Arc D'Tegan
by MizJoely
Summary: Followup to my stories End of the Circle and Opening the Circle. Tegan is on Terminus when unexpected visitors turn her life upside down. Dark. Complete!
1. Her Master's Voice

Tegan sleeps, fitfully at best. She is nearing the last month of her pregnancy, but her physical discomfort is nothing compared to the nightmare she is enduring.

_You didn't tell the truth, Tegan._

The voice is taunting, familiar.

Hated.

_You didn't tell Ace what _really_ happened between us._

"Nothing happened!" she protests in her dream. Only a mumble emerges from her sleeping lips as her head twists from side to side, fists clenching and unclenching in the tangle she's made of her sheets.

_Oh,_ something_ happened, Tegan; one merely has to look at you to tell that._

"Fine then. Rape happened," she snaps, her dream voice sounding shrilly through her mind. She is correct; rape happened, but as the voice continues to remind her, it didn't happen exactly the way she told Ace.

The way she's been trying to convince herself it happened.

"It was just once, you forced yourself on me just once," she says stubbornly. She sounds nervous and unconvincing, even to herself.

_Oh no, that's not how it happened and you know it. You can't hide the truth from yourself forever, Tegan Jovanka. You and I both know what _really_ occurred between us. Wouldn't it be terrible if one day _he_ found out? What would he think of you then?_

The sound of the Master's mocking laughter rings through her dreams, and she wakes herself with a shout and a physical start that apparently startles the baby awake as well. He kicks, hard, and her hand moves automatically in a soothing motion as she rubs her swollen abdomen.

The baby isn't the only one she's awakened. The door to her room opens, and a familiar face peeks in on her. "Tegan? Are you all right?"

"Just a nightmare, Nyssa, sorry to wake you," Tegan manages as she pulls herself shakily to her feet. "Just another nightmare."

She's lying and they both know it, but Nyssa won't push and Tegan won't give. Vivid prenatal nightmares are typical of human pregnancies, as they both know, but they also both know Tegan's dreams have been anything but typical.

Tegan brushes past Nyssa, mumbling something about a cup of tea, and feels the weight of her friend's helpless gaze on the back of her neck. She resists an urge to rub at that spot, resists an even stronger urge to break into a run, forces herself to keep to a normal pace as she turns the corner and is out of Nyssa's sight.

In the kitchen, she flicks on a light and breathes a sigh of relief, her back to the door. A cup of tea won't solve her problems, not even close, but the busy-work of getting it ready will keep her mind occupied, at least for a little while.

Long enough, she hopes, to forget the words the Master's nightmare-self whispers in her dreams.

Words she still won't acknowledge the truth of.

**oOo**

"I'm worried about Tegan." It was morning; Tegan had fallen back asleep, but Nyssa and her husband, Tyrel, were in the kitchen, preparing for the day's work.

"Of course you are; we both are." Tyrel turned to look at his wife, the rest of his soothing words dying in his throat. Nyssa wasn't just worried about her friend; to judge by her expression, she was frightened for her. "Nyssa, what is it?" he asked, crossing the room and taking her in his arms.

She rested her head against his chest. "The nightmares. I think there's more to them than just the pregnancy."

He leaned down and kissed the top her head. She barely reached to his collarbone, his petite, curly-haired wife, but he always teased her that she was the tallest person he knew. It was all in the way she held herself. "Do you think it's telepathic, an attack of some sort?"

She pulled away from him, just enough to offer a startled glance. "No, I just meant I think there's something bothering Tegan, something she won't talk about." Her gaze grew thoughtful. "Although I suppose we can't rule anything out; no one knows what happened to the Master after his TARDIS located a 'suitable host' for him."

"Psychic attacks aren't exactly my area of expertise," Tyrel said, somewhat at a loss as to how to proceed; he hadn't expected his wife to take his words so seriously. He should have known better; Nyssa had spent several years traveling through space and time with the Time Lord known as the Doctor, not to mention her own borderline empathic abilities; who knew what she'd witnessed during that time? Well, he did, but only to a certain degree; there were things he knew she wasn't telling him, and he respected her privacy enough not to push. She'd told him the worst of it; seeing the destruction of her home world and literal hijacking of her father's body, both atrocities committed by the renegade Time Lord called the Master, both the most painful events of her life.

Now, however, the Master had added to that list. Tyrel knew Nyssa was struggling with the fact of her friend's rape and impregnation by the Master almost as much as Tegan must be. The baby was, biologically at least, half-Trakenite. Nyssa's baby brother was about to be born; surely that was reason enough for Tegan to have nightmares. He said as much to his wife, who nodded reluctant agreement but didn't truly believe him; he could see it in her eyes. "She says she's fine, she says she doesn't want to talk to the counselor any more, so I'm not sure what else we can do for her except be there when she needs us," he urged her, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I suppose you're right," Nyssa sighed, willing herself to believe her husband's words. Tegan was a rape victim, Tegan's pregnancy had been artificially advanced by the Master's manipulation of her personal time-stream, and both were enough to send anyone screaming over the edge. If anything, the fact that Tegan was handling it as well as she was should be a cause for quiet celebration.

"I'm sure things will be better once the baby's born, once she gets to hold her son in her arms," Tyrel said.

Nyssa kissed him, then gently disentangled herself from his embrace. "And I'm sure you're right. So off to work for both of us."

**oOo**

Tegan is dreaming again, a good dream this time, or so it appears. She is still pregnant in the dream, but the father is not the Master, someone she has always hated, but is instead the Doctor.

Someone she never stopped loving.

The child is a boy, named for the Doctor's assumed identity on Earth. John Jovanka-Smith. He has blonde hair and the bluest eyes she's ever seen, even bluer than those of his father. He is beautiful and healthy, and they are together, and she is happier than she's ever felt.

Until she wakes up.

This time there is no one in the living quarters to hear her, as Nyssa and Tyrel have already left for work, but there is no screaming, either. Only sobs as Tegan realizes it was nothing but a dream.

So she pulls herself from bed with dragging feet, wiping tears away with the back of her hand, sniffling, and brings herself back to the nightmare of reality.

Still sniffling, she shuffles into the bathroom and sheds her nightclothes, stepping into the shower and putting the water as hot as she can stand. The bathroom was built just for her, because she never could get used to sonics, never really felt clean unless soap and water were involved. It is one of the many things she loves Nyssa for, and Tyrel, now that she's got to know him over the last three months.

She stays there for a long time, not moving, not washing herself, just feeling the heat on her skin, until finally she forces herself to reach for the soap, to wash her body and hair, to turn off the water and wait passively for the dryer to activate. In less than a minute she is completely dry, and she steps onto the cool floor and pads into her bedroom without bothering to don the robe hanging on the back of the door. She pulls on her clothes, runs a brush through her hair, sits in front of the mirror on her vanity, then pauses in the act of reaching for her makeup.

"Why am I bothering?" she asks her reflection. It doesn't answer, of course, although it truly would not have startled her for more than an instant if it had; she's seen stranger things in her life.

_Because you always do,_ she silently answers herself, and allows the familiar ritual to soothe her, at least for now. Lips, cheeks, eyes. Still a ghost behind the makeup, but the attempt at imitating life must be made.

She starts to rise from her seat, then gasps as a spasm of pain crosses her abdomen. She feels a dampness between her legs, and realizes the baby has opted to make his debut two weeks early.


	2. Baby Talk

**Three Months Later**

"Who's a little oozy-woozy? Who's my big boy? That's right, you are, my lad! Yes you is! Yes you is!"

The baby stared back up at the adult making the ridiculous noises, yawned, then closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep. Tyrel's face fell in disappointment.

"I wonder what your patients would think if they heard you talking like that."

Tyrel started guiltily at the sound of Tegan's voice, then began fussing with the blanket drawn over the small form in the cradle to cover his embarrassment. "Um, they would applaud me for my sensitivity, of course." He decided to go on the attack, always advisable where his wife's best friend was concerned. "Besides, I was trying to keep him awake until you got here."

Tegan snorted as she continued into the nursery. "Of course you were." But she was smiling, and so was Nyssa, who was patiently waiting her turn to coo over her godson. Tyrel, as usual, was hogging him. He backed reluctantly away as Tegan strode up to the cradle, sparing a smile and a wink for Nyssa, who was occupying the rocking chair. Tegan gave her son a critical glance, touched a gentle finger tip against his button of a nose, then sat on the edge of the day bed. "Well, he doesn't look too spoilt from his morning with you. Are we ready for lunch?"

They'd gotten into a routine round about a month ago; Tegan took a day off from baby care, and Tyrel and Nyssa took a day off from work to baby-sit. They met up for lunch, as much for Tegan to make sure her son was all right as for the company, then parted ways again until dinner. Tegan wasn't allowed to return to quarters until that time. "A day off means a day off," Nyssa had very firmly told her. Lunch was the only compromise short of illness or emergency she would allow, and she had very firm opinions on emergencies as well, both for Tegan and for the hospital staff.

Those firm opinions held for living quarters as well. Every time Tegan tried to talk about moving into a space of her own, she was loudly–and lovingly–overruled. "After all," Nyssa pointed out in that sensible way of hers, "this way you have help immediately if he becomes ill, or you do. And," she continued blithely, "the walls are certainly thick enough that you can't hear us when we feel like making love."

Nyssa's mixture of innocence and no-nonsense bluntness had always taken Tegan by surprise, and this time was no different. She had blushed furiously, and Tyrel had had the sense to steer the conversation in an entirely different direction.

He spoke up this time, not to distract but to get them back on target. "Where did you want to eat today?" They always left it to the last minute, and always left it up to Tegan, both as their guest and as a newcomer to the station.

Before she could answer, however, a buzzing sound filled the room, first from Tyrel's breast pocket, then from Nyssa's hip. Each automatically clapped a hand to the appropriate location, pulling out identical paging devices and examining them.

Tegan had started to her feet at the unexpected sounds, her eyes going to her sleeping son. Who, remarkably, remained sleeping.

"It's Borean, he says there's an emergency!" "I have to perform an emergency surgery!"

Nyssa and Tyrel spoke at the same time, in the same tones of urgent disbelief. Tyrel rushed out of the room, shouting a farewell to the others over his shoulder, the door slamming shut behind him with a bang. Nyssa lingered long enough to hug Tegan good-bye, then hurried after her husband, the door closing behind her with a much quieter bang.


	3. Visitors, Welcome and Not

**oOo**

Tegan looks down at her baby; even the slamming doors and rushing feet do not wake her sleeping son. He falls asleep quickly and wakens quietly, a very Trakenish trait, Nyssa assures her whenever she frets over it. He cries very little as well, which Tegan also finds time to worry about.

She finds time to worry about a lot of things, most of which she has learnt to keep to herself. She buttons up those fears inside, knowing that her son can sense her emotions, or will be able to one day; he has enough Trakenite anatomy for Nyssa to be fairly sure of that. His mother looks down at him and melts into a smile. "Well, so much for mommy's day off," she says.

Her son's eyes pop open at the sound of her voice, and he coos inquisitively. Tegan's smile broadens, her heart melting as it always does at the sight of her little miracle. He is her miracle because he is alive and healthy, and because she loves him in spite of the Master's participation in his conception.

In spite of the Master's thwarted plans for her son's future.

She shies away from thoughts of her child's father, concentrating instead on her son.

She loves him, unconditionally and quite fiercely; she will protect him with her life if necessary, and she finds that frightens her as well, but not in the same way she fears for her son's future, for his health, for his safety. It is a fear she can, and does, live with.

"Let's go to lunch, John," she finally says, shaking herself from her thoughts.

That is his name, John Tremas Jovanka. Tremas for Nyssa's father, John for the Doctor. She refuses to explain to anyone, especially herself, why she felt compelled to name her son for the Doctor. Nyssa speculates that it's because he convinced her to take a chance on loving her child, or out of gratitude for everything he's ever done for her.

Neither of those reasons are true, of course. Tegan named her son after the Doctor's Earth alias because she loved him while she traveled with him and continued to love him even five years after returning to Earth. She loves him still, even knowing he has regenerated, even knowing it is an impossible love.

Which is why she chooses to ignore it, the emotion that lies at the heart of her existence.

Which is possibly why she chooses instead to lavish so much love on a son she should by all means resent. Whatever the reason, love him she does, and has from the moment he'd been laid in her arms, messy and red and squalling angrily. "Never mind who your father is, little man," she murmurs as she scoops him up in her arms, automatically sniffing to make sure his diaper didn't need changing. "We'll be more than fine without him in our lives." She shivers lightly. "Especially you." She shakes off the cloud thoughts of the Master always bring, focusing instead on the here and now. "Well, John Tremas Jovanka, time for walkies. Looks like it's just the two of us for lunch; how does the Arboretum sound?"

One of Nyssa's first acts as official Administrator had been to install the Arboretum inside a large area that had once been filled with trash and cast-off furnishings. She'd missed the lush greenery of Traken, and had set about to recreate it as best she could, soliciting cuttings and seedlings from visiting families and captains of transports every opportunity she got. Now, five years later, with an official gardening staff and new plants arriving with almost every ship, Tegan knows her friend is considering enlarging the space. They both find a great deal of solace in it, and Tegan enjoys quiet meals there as often as she can.

Today, however, she will not be going to the Arboretum. For when she opens the door, a man is standing there, a man she doesn't recognize, a man with a device in one hand that looks suspiciously like a gun, which he points directly at the baby. "Hello, Tegan," he says, a manic gleam in his eyes matching the threatening smile on his face. "Did you and our son miss me?"

**Terminus Medical Station – Six Weeks Later**

A wheezing, groaning sound echoed through the halls of an unused section of Terminus, one of the few left after the growth and development instigated by Administrator Nyssa. A whoosh of displaced air, the sound of something heavy settling onto the decking, and the TARDIS completed its materialization. The door opened briefly, the Doctor's head popped out, and seeing no welcoming party, a satisfied smile split his face. "Good, just time to work on that nagging little problem," he said aloud, to no one or to the TARDIS, then vanished back inside, leaving the door slightly ajar. After all, this was friendly territory. Sooner or later Nyssa would find him, or he would finish his work and find her.

**oOo**

Nyssa came down the corridor at a dead run. Routine scanning had noted an anomalous object in Corridor C-23. Borean, Nyssa's assistant, had routed the findings directly to her computer terminal, knowing that she would recognize the object that puzzled the techs that had spotted it. Borean had, himself, seen it only once before, but knew its significance immediately. When the Administrator had bolted out of her office seconds after he routed the image to her screen, he knew he'd done the right thing. This was what she'd been waiting for. As per standing orders, the sent an urgent message to the Administrator's husband, directing him to the relevant location, then sat back and waited.

With any luck, the Doctor would be able to help them locate Tegan and her son, missing now for six weeks.

**oOo**

Nyssa raced to a stop, panting, trying to present a calmer façade. It wouldn't do to rush into the TARDIS in a panic; there was only so much the Doctor could do until she gave him a clear, concise report on the situation. And she could only do that if she had the breath to spare. So she waited, counted to fifty slowly, then pushed open the door and stepped back into the familiar

console room.

Extremely familiar; it looked exactly the same as when she'd last seen it, five years ago. Apparently the Doctor wasn't much for redecorating, at least in this incarnation. She saw the bottoms of his feet as he crouched beneath the console, some kind of cloth draped over half of it and a great deal of smoke coming out of the base. She heard him cursing in a language the TARDIS apparently refused to translate, his voice muffled, and surmised his head was currently inside the base. A spate of coughing, and the smoke slowed, almost clearing.

"Doctor?" Nyssa took a step forward, hesitating to enter that noxious cloud, eyes stinging even from her position near the door. "Doctor, it's Nyssa, I'm so glad you're back!" The Doctor's coughing eased, and a hand appeared, pointer finger raised in the universal "wait a minute" motion. Nyssa plunged on, ignoring it. If she had to talk to the hand, then fine, she would, but her patience had come to an end. "Doctor, it's the Master; he's taken Tegan and her baby! He says he won't release them unless you get his TARDIS back. He says," she choked back a sudden tear, "he says even then he might keep his son, if you don't hurry. He's given me a code to enter--"

She fell silent as the Doctor slowly stood up. His hair (blonde) was in wild disarray, his face (youngish, handsome) marred with soot, his eyes (blue) widened with shock, his clothes (Cricketer's jacket and striped pants) also covered in smudges. At the same moment, the interior door to the TARDIS opened and a young woman in shorts and tank top entered the room, short dark hair, inquisitive eyes, engaging smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Peri!" she said, walking up with her hand outstretched. "You must be Nyssa, the Doctor's told me all about you!"

Her smile faded as she belatedly noticed Nyssa's white face and strained expression. She turned uncertainly to face the Doctor, only to be further confused by the equally serious expression on his face. "Nyssa," he said gently, "you'd better tell me exactly what's going on. Especially," he added, "since Tegan went back to Earth some months ago by my reckoning."

"You're the wrong Doctor," Nyssa whispered, dropping her head into her hands.

"Doctor! Did Nyssa tell you what—who are you?" A man burst into the TARDIS, skidding to a stop and staring at the newcomers before turning to look at Nyssa. "Nyssa? What's going on?"

The Doctor studied the newcomer. "I'm the Doctor," he said slowly, as the other man took Nyssa in his arms, stroking the back of her head and staring at the other two. "But I'm obviously not the Doctor either of you was expecting." He wiped his hands absently on the fabric draped over the TARDIS console, then indicated the interior door, to which Peri had retreated in uncertainty. She fumbled it open and stepped aside as first the Doctor, then the other two, Nyssa still held protectively by the tall, dark haired man, filed past. "Please join us, Peri," the Doctor said gently as she hesitated in the Console Room. "That is, if you don't mind, Nyssa."

Nyssa shook her head and wiped a tear from one eye. "Of course, if we've got to fill you in on part of your future there's no sense in keeping it from your current companion." She managed a small smile and eased out of the other man's hold. "Honestly, I'm quite pleased to meet you. And this is my husband, Tyrel," she added. Peri noted the rings now that she was looking for them, matching silver bands. "I'm so sorry, Doctor," she added, craning her head to look at him as he indicated a side corridor, the one Peri knew led to the nearest kitchen. The cozy one with the teakettle that never seemed to need filling or heating, that always seemed to be ready when she entered the room.

"Don't apologize, Nyssa," the Doctor replied soothingly. "I can tell when I've been a shock. It happens more frequently than I care to remember," he added in a joking tone.

"And I know when I've given a shock," Nyssa replied as they entered the kitchen. She took a seat in the nook while the Doctor busied himself with cups and sugar and all the other accoutrements of a nice cuppa. "If I'd known it was you, I'd never have blurted it out like that, it's just that I've been so worried, and I just assumed…" Her voice trailed off and she raised a shaky hand to her hair, pushing the few strands that had broken free from her severe bun away from her eyes.

Peri looked from Nyssa to the Doctor. "Blurted what out?"

"The fact that the Master has apparently fathered a child…with my former companion, Tegan." The Doctor's voice was low, calm, but all three of the others could sense the conflicting emotions behind that calm, held forcibly at bay by the Doctor's need to know all the facts before visibly reacting. "So. Tell me about it."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_Author's Note: The next chapter will probably go up tomorrow or Friday. Thanks for reading!_


	4. Whereabouts Unknown

**Elsewhere**

Tegan stands facing the cliff's edge, as she has done many times since the Master brought her to this place. There is a cottage behind her, whitewashed walls and thatched roof, cheerful red door and many windows, looking like something from her home planet, although they are many light years away from that place. The tropical ocean that surrounds the small island she is currently living on is blue, the sun is a familiar golden ball, there are birds very much like gulls that fly overhead and float on the waves, the sand is nearly white, as are the occasional clouds that float in the blue sky. The grass is green and neatly kept, the bushes trimmed and the small trees that dot the island remind her of palm trees although they are the one truly alien plant life she has seen; the fronds are a shade of lilac that took her weeks to give a name to, and the cocoanut-like fruits they bear are wrapped in shells of a deeper purple. They fall to the ground with a boom every few days; the sound no longer startles her.

The house is located at the top of a winding path, backed by the cliff and fronted by a long slope down to the main part of the island. There is a path next to a small freshwater stream, leading to a small village at the base of the hill. It winds its way down, gradually disappearing into a thicket of the palms and other trees, only to reappear after about a brisk five minute walk onto the flats where the natives have their farming lands. The path is well-kept, but no one ever uses it except herself and the woman assigned to help her. The woman's name is unknown to Tegan; she is unable to understand their language, and apparently they have been warned or threatened by the Master not to speak to her, so she can't even try the "Me Tarzan, You Jane" approach to linguistic analysis.

They are human, or human-like, somewhat Polynesian and somewhat Asiatic in looks, with uniformly smooth brown skin and deep black hair worn by both men and women in waist-length plaits. Their eyes vary in color from blue to green, not at all what she subconsciously expected, and stand out beautifully against their skin. Tegan has spent a great deal of time studying them, trying to make friends while knowing the Master makes that impossible; whatever hold he has over them is absolute. They feed her and clothe her and help her maintain her simple cottage, but that is all.

John is nearly five months old now, and it has been six weeks since Tegan has been allowed to hold him. Her milk dried up after the first two weeks, and she wept for hours when she realized what had happened. He is living with a family in the village, and appears healthy the few times she has been able to see him. She is allowed to wander the island as she wills, even to enter the village, but the house in which he is being kept is off limits to her. A guard stands by the door, but he looks apologetic every time he is forced to bar Tegan's way. For a few days the mother made sure the baby was in the yard with her other small children whenever Tegan approached, but then the Master appeared in the village once at the same time as Tegan, spoke sharply to both the woman and the guard in their own language, then physically dragged Tegan away.

That was two weeks ago. The days in this place seem about the same length as an Earth day, the temperature balmy even at night but never uncomfortably hot. Tegan wishes sometimes it was less hospitable, but knows that would do nothing to lessen the ache in her heart from missing her son, her friends, the home she's begun to make for herself on Terminus.

Instead, she must deal with the Master. She no longer begs him to allow her to have her son back; she is merely thankful that he has shown no signs of interest in the boy himself, other than ensuring that the family he has assigned to watch him keeps him healthy.

Unfortunately, the Master _has_ decided to show signs of interest in her. She is staring at the ocean from the cliff side, not because the view brings her a measure of peace or to pass the time, but because it is the direction from which the Master always arrives. He comes at irregular intervals, and uses a boat that hovers above the water and appears to Tegan's eyes to be far beyond the technology of this place, where she lives without electricity or running water or the thousand other conveniences of civilization. But the natives do not seem startled by it, so she concludes that the lack of technology may be a choice these people have made. Pondering this keeps her mind occupied, helps to tamp down the anxiety she feels while she scans the waves.

Whenever the Master arrives, he follows a pattern, but not one that Tegan has ever managed to find a way to take advantage of. He enters the village, looks in on John, who is presented to him for inspection as if he were a sack of the taro-like roots the natives harvest as their main food crop. The Master indicates his satisfaction or dissatisfaction, then disappears into the cottage belonging to the man Tegan has mentally designated at the Village Headman. Sometimes they are in there for hours, sometimes only a few minutes, but the Master always takes the path up the hill as soon as he is finished, and the woman who stays with Tegan immediately leaves, returning to visit her own friends and family until the Master once again enters his boat. The boat is heavily guarded, of course, and the one time she approached it the guards offered her looks that were far from apologetic and fingered their weapons in a manner that caused her to immediately back off.

The length of his stay varies, but is never less than an hour. The longest he has remained has been overnight, but he has never stayed past the following morning. It is those visits that Tegan dreads the most.

His TARDIS placed him into a new body, so he is no longer the same man who fathered her son on her unwilling body, no longer Nyssa's father in appearance and genetics. He does not appear to be one of the natives of this world, or at least not of this section of it. He is taller than his former self, leaner, perhaps even handsomer, although Tegan knows she can never think of him that way, with fair skin and eyes a lighter shade. She isn't sure of their exact color because she refuses to examine him that closely. He has no beard, his hair is a lighter shade and worn longer than before. But the personality is the same, at least as far as she can tell, the sarcasm, the sadism.

He is still evil.

He is still forcing her into his bed every time he visits. He laughingly refers to them as conjugal visits and refuses to tell her why he is continuing this unwelcome physical relationship, one that she had believed he initiated on his TARDIS only to impregnate her. She supposes it is to humiliate her, which he is quite successful at, but she senses there is something more to it.

Something she does not want to understand.

It has to do with that time he held her prisoner on his TARDIS, the time she won't let herself remember in any detail. Relating his first attack (_the only attack,_ she stubbornly tells herself) on her to the Doctor's companion, Ace, had been more than enough. The nightmares she still experienced were just as bad, but thankfully left no details in her waking mind.

She is growing used to his presence, to this life he has forced on her, and although she aches with missing her child, she finds herself settling into a routine, almost accepting of everything that happens to her. Including the Master's visits.

And that shames her even more.


	5. Coming to Terms

**Terminus**

The Doctor sat quite still as Nyssa completed the story. Peri was unashamedly weeping, sniffling and wiping away the tears with the backs of her hands.

Nyssa held nothing back. She told him everything: Tegan's kidnapping, the Master's murder of various companions (with an apologetic look toward Peri), the way Leela's daughter Noni hid herself on the TARDIS in order to stay with Susan until the Doctor's future self brought the infant back to his first incarnation. The way the Master caused the Doctor's son and Ace to be permanently out of temporal phase with their daughter, so they could never be with her again.

What the Master had done to Tegan, and what he intended for the son he fathered on her.

The Doctor interrupted her only once, to inquire as to the identity of Kyris' mother. When Nyssa replied, "Romana," his only comment was an understanding, "Ah," as he indicated that she should continue.

"When we realized Tegan was missing, that the emergency pages we'd received were both false, we went back to our quarters and found this." Nyssa pulled out a small hand-held message pad from a pocket in her smock. Her voice caught. "He left it in the crib. He also left very precise instructions." The Doctor took the device and pressed the playback button without comment.

The Master's new voice came forth, strong and mocking. "_Greetings, Nyssa of Traken." _A chuckle_. "Oh, I'm sorry; was that in poor taste? Nyssa of Terminus, then. I understand congratulations are in order; I certainly hope your husband treats you better than the Doctor ever did." _Nyssa grimaced at that comment, just as she had the first time she heard it, but the Doctor just sat with head bowed, listening intently to the rest of the Master's taunting words.

"_Let's get down to business, shall we? I have something you want, and the Doctor has something I want. My TARDIS. Or his; I shan't be fussy about it. I know he's probably given my ship to his cursed offspring, and I want it back. If you want Tegan and our son returned to you, which I am confident you do, then you will notify me upon the Doctor's arrival by activating this code."_ A string of numbers and letters flashed across the small screen, the only visual the Master offered. _"At that time, I will continue this conversation, such as it is, with him. Oh, and one more thing; if he takes too long, let's say longer than a year, shall we? I'll assume there will be no deal and will cut my losses by taking my son with me." _A significant pause. _" _Without_ his mother."_

The message went silent. The Doctor remained very still, head bowed, for almost a full minute. Just as Peri opened her mouth to ask if he was all right, he rose to his feet, solemnly shook Tyrel's hand, patted Nyssa on the head, then left the room, closing the door carefully behind him.

Peri, still sniffling, half-rose to her feet as if to follow, then sank back into her chair, thinking better of the idea. "I knew the Master was evil," she said, wiping her nose with a napkin that Tyrel quietly handed her. "I mean, I _knew_ it, here." She tapped a clenched fist against her stomach twice, to indicate how viscerally she knew it. "I saw some of the things he's done, but this..."

Nyssa reached over wordlessly and took the other woman's hand in her own. She'd had six weeks to try and come to grips with the situation, and it touched her that the Doctor's newest companion felt the pain of it so profoundly. "I know. Even after witnessing what he's capable of, the atrocities he's able to commit with no thought of consequences or care for how it might affect anyone else, it turns out he can still shock us."

Peri wiped her eyes one last time and gave an emphatic nod. "I think this even shocked the Doctor, don't you?" She stared toward the worn paneling on the kitchen door, incongruous next to the polished white roundels of the TARDIS walls. "He never closes that door; heck, I didn't even know what the back of it looked like until now. And we eat in here all the time." She looked lost, and Nyssa squeezed her hand again, sympathetically. The Doctor in need of comfort wasn't completely alien, no matter how tightly he controlled himself at those times. The Doctor so obvious about that need was something else entirely.

And yet she also knew he would reject any such comfort. She knew, with a certainty born not only of experience but also of her limited empathic skills, that he felt responsible for all of this. She could practically feel the "if onlys" filling the room, even after he'd left.

**Somewhere In Space**

The TARDIS was acting up. Of course, the argument could be made that the TARDIS frequently acted up, but this was different. There was no spatial turbulence, no discernable outside influences to cause it to behave the way it was currently behaving, no signs of psychic interference or electromagnetic radiation or anything else that could disrupt the smooth running of the time machine.

So naturally Ace blamed the Master.

"It's him, I'm telling you," she insisted to the back of Kyris' head. He was currently leaning down, opening the panel for the third, or was it the fourth, time that morning. "He's still in here, doing something."

"The TARDIS sent him to a new body," Kyris' muffled reply came back, followed by a soft grunt as the panel finally allowed itself to be wrenched free. The cursed machine did seem to fight them at every turn, although nowhere nearly as much as it had when the Master's essence was floating around, maliciously causing deliberate problems.

"Some part of him isn't," Ace retorted stubbornly. "I'll bet he had a back up program in place. Just in case something like this happened, if someone else tried to use his TARDIS." She glared around the console room. "Bloody bastard."

Kyris stood back up, sonic screwdriver in one hand, some other tool Ace didn't recognize in the other. "Look, Ace, I'm telling you, the Master isn't still here in any form, except for the normal imprinting he did when he took this TARDIS for his own. That's why it keeps acting up, not because of deliberate booby-traps. It just has to get used to a new Time Lord being in charge, and it'll settle down." He glared at the console. "It had better," he muttered threateningly.

It had been about six subjective months since they'd gone off in search of the Master. Both were still determined to force him to undo whatever he'd done to them, to keep them out of temporal phase with their daughter, Susan, but each privately suspected it was a futile effort. But it beat sitting around doing nothing, it gave them a purpose and a goal, and it allowed them to spend more time together to explore whatever else they might have in common besides their hatred for the Master and desire to hold their daughter in their arms once again.

Ace sighed. Loudly. Which, Kyris knew, signaled temporary capitulation. He dropped the tools he was holding and walked over to her. She was pacing near the door to the interior of the TARDIS. "Look, it isn't going to help if all you're doing is standing around watching me tinker," he said, taking her gently into his arms. She resisted lightly, then gave in and allowed him to kiss her. She'd shut down emotionally for a time, and it had taken them over three months to be able to return to a physical relationship, to be able to talk to each other without it escalating into an argument that always ended with one of them not speaking to the other for days at a time.

"So what else am I supposed to do?" Ace grumbled.

"Get back to reconfiguring the TARDIS the way you want it to look," Kyris replied promptly. He brushed a swath of black hair out of his eyes. Blue eyes, which, as Ace frequently found time to comment, were the most fab pair she'd ever seen. It was the only way she'd ever managed to make him blush.

Ace rubber her own hair absently. She'd cut it, chopped the brown tresses short not long after she and Kyris had taken off in pursuit of the Master. It changed her looks, sharpened her features and hardened her eyes, although Kyris knew a large part of that was subjective; he himself saw a more brittle reflection in the mirror when he got up every morning after a night of not-sleeping. He kept to a diurnal schedule now that Ace had returned to their shared bedroom, afraid to change it in case she saw it as rejection and took herself away from him once again.

"The stupid machine keeps fighting me," she pointed out, but he knew when he'd won and kissed the tip of her nose without comment. "But," she finally allowed, "I suppose I can get back to making it do something it doesn't want to." Her expression lightened considerably as she said that, a fleeting grin touching her lips. Kyris knew she was being too heavy handed in her attempts at reconfiguration, at implementing the programming he'd patiently taught her, but let it go. She was taking her frustration out on the TARDIS, which reacted in turn by being even more intransigent, but it did give her something to do. Eventually she would figure it out, or else simply browbeat the machine into doing what she wanted. He was unwilling to lay odds as to who had the stronger will, especially with the Master completely out of the equation.

"Fine, I'll be in auxiliary control if you need me," were Ace's last words on the subject as Kyris returned his attention to the console. "I'll be back for lunch, which I know you won't remember."

"See you later," he replied absently, his mind fully absorbed now by the intricacies of the machinery showing in the console base. He dropped to his knees, picked up the sonic screwdriver his father had built him, and got back to work.


	6. One Door Opens

**Elsewhere**

Tegan is facing the sea. She has been on this island an additional two weeks, bringing her time here to exactly two months. Her hair is growing quite long, brushing her shoulders and getting in her eyes, but she is allowed access to no knives or scissors and so cannot cut it short. Her skin is a healthy tan from so much exposure to this world's tropical sun, and she has freckles, which she hates, idly, when she thinks of them. She is sitting on the cliff's edge, knees drawn up under the sarong she has finally adopted, a colorful fabric a shade darker than the purple cocoanuts. Her own clothing is becoming worn out, ragged, from continual use, but it took her this long to finally submit to the inevitable. She burned those garments only two days ago, staring into the flames and wishing the Master were burning there instead.

John has passed his sixth month; she knows he is starting to crawl and that he has teeth only because he is the correct age for those landmarks. She supposes he is as tan as she is, and wonders if he has freckles, and frets about his health. She has not seen him in so long that she knows he will not recognize her if she is ever allowed to hold him again. She is not sure she would recognize him, if not for the fact that he is so physically different from the natives the two of them live amongst.

It has been nearly a week since the Master's last visit. She is facing the sea, waiting for him, almost with a sense of anticipation. She has a belt holding her sarong closed, since she has been unable to figure out the natives' trick of wrapping the fabric so it stays on without outside support. The belt is simple, braided together from strips of extra cloth from the three outfits she has been given, and quite strong. Tegan knows, because she has tested it by hanging it over one of the chair hooks on the wall and hanging from it.

She needs it to be strong. When the Master arrives, she plans to use it to strangle him. She knows she will probably be killed by his guards for doing so, but hopes to at least see her son one last time before this happens.

She goes over the plan in her mind. The only stumbling block is the fact that she has no idea what will happen to John if she is killed. She knows there is the faintest possibility that she will be allowed to live, but it is only a glimmer at best. Because of this uncertainty, she is not sure if she will actually go through with her plan. Perhaps she will merely hold the Master prisoner after strangling him into unconsciousness rather than killing him, although she is unsure of her ability to tell when to stop. In anticipation of this moment, she has been spending time lifting cocoanuts as if they are hand weights, to build up her arm strength. She takes long walks to keep herself in shape. Her diet is quite healthy and boring, and the few extra pounds she retained after her son's birth have vanished. She is thinner than she has ever been, and truthfully feels better physically than she has since she ran track as a pre-teen.

She hopes it is enough, because she is tired of waiting for things to change. She is tired of becoming used to the routine her life has become, tired of aching for her son.

Tired of allowing the Master to use her body without so much as a fight while he whispers lies into her ears.

Tired of the nightmares she suspects prove those lies to be truth.

**Terminus Station - Two Weeks Ago**

When the Doctor did not reemerge after nearly an hour, Tyrel and Nyssa reluctantly decided to leave the TARDIS. The Doctor would find them, they concluded, when he was ready. Peri came with them, to take a tour and stretch her legs. "And to keep me from bugging the heck out of the Doc before he's ready," she admitted as she ran to her room for some less casual clothing.

She changed quickly into a skirt and blouse that more closely mimicked Nyssa's off-white medical uniform, wrestled herself into pantyhose and low heels, ran a comb over her hair and anxiously headed back to the Console room. She wanted to make a good impression on the Doctor's old friends, even if Tyrel was newer to her Doctor than she was. She shook her head. It was confusing, the concept of regeneration and meeting people who'd met you in the future but whom you hadn't met yet. She supposed she'd get used to it after a while. The benefits of traveling with the Doctor certainly outweighed the confusing parts. And the dangerous parts.

She was still digesting the facts of Tegan's story as she joined Tyrel and Nyssa. She scribbled a quick note for the Doctor, left it on the Console, and closed the door behind them after making sure she had her key. "The Master killed a bunch of the Doctor's companions just to try and get his attention?" she asked abruptly as she walked next to Nyssa. Tyrel remained discreetly behind them, allowing his wife some time with what he privately thought of as her replacement.

Nyssa nodded. "Then he tried to kidnap Susan to raise her as his own daughter, but Leela killed him. He was threatening Noni as well," she explained at Peri's startled look. "Threatening her with, well, with what he did to Tegan. That pushed Leela over the edge, and I can't blame her."

"Then the Master had some alien computer program wired into his TARDIS to find him a new body if he was killed," Peri finished, shaking her head. "He always has a backup plan. Just once I'd like to catch him with his pants down….damn, sorry, poor choice of words," she muttered, reddening.

Nyssa patted her arm. "It's all right," she murmured, but Peri heard the strain in her voice. The Master with his pants down had started all this. Peri hastily tried to change the subject. "So, you're in charge of this place? What's it like, running a medical space station?"

Nyssa gladly followed the conversation in this new direction, and Tyrel joined in as they headed for the Administration offices.

The Doctor heard them leave. He entered the Console room just as the door closed behind them, but made no move to join or stop them.

Things had occurred in his future, things he was not destined to stop. People had died, and Tegan had been raped, impregnated and held captive by his oldest enemy.

It still seemed incredible to him. Not that the Master had targeted and murdered former (and future) companions; murder was something the renegade Time Lord practiced with a regularity that was almost commonplace at this point. No, it was what he'd done to Tegan that was the hardest to understand.

"What's happened to you? Why the sudden change in tactics? You've never been the type to dirty yourself personally, not like this," he murmured to himself as he stared down at the message pad. He depressed the button, squealed it backward a bit and listened again: "_If you want Tegan and our son returned to you, which I am confident you do, then you will notify me upon the Doctor's arrival by activating this code." _The code appeared, right on cue, and the Doctor absently memorized it. _"At that time, I will continue this conversation, such as it is, with him. Oh, and one more thing; if he takes too long, let's say longer than a year, shall we? I'll assume there will be no deal and will cut my losses by taking my son with me." _Pause. _" _Without_ his mother."_

_Without his mother._ That could mean anything. The Doctor heard a crunching noise; startled, he looked down. He had crushed the message pad. He dropped the pieces to the floor, walked over to the Console, and punched in the code. Before depressing the button to send it, he hesitated, then stabbed his finger down.

_Without his mother._ Those words continued to ring through his head as he paced the Console room. There was certainly no way he was going to allow the Master to keep either Tegan or her baby, nor was he willing to give up his TARDIS. The Master had lost his, yet managed to continue to wreak havoc.

There had to be a way out of this impasse.

**oOo**

"Where are we?" Ace peered into the view screen, seeing only a nondescript corridor leading into the distance. "On a planet? A space station?"

"Space station, I think," Kyris replied, frowning at the controls. He'd _thought_ he'd got them back in line... "Let me check…yep, definitely a space station." He paused, and Ace turned inquisitively. "Not just any space station, we're on Terminus."

It was Ace's turn to frown. "Terminus? The place where Tegan went? Why are we here?"

Kyris fiddled a few controls and looked more closely at one of the readouts. "I think it's because there's another TARDIS here," he said with a note of surprise.

Ace rolled her eyes. "Great. So we were sidetracked here because this TARDIS wants a visit with your father's TARDIS? That isn't getting us any closer to finding that bastard." She meant the Master, not the Doctor, of course. "That bastard" was one of the nicer ways she had of referring to their nemesis. Not that Kyris could fault her; his private names for the Master were just as spectacularly crude. The renegade had robbed them not only of a future with their daughter, but had also destroyed Kyris' healing abilities, apparently permanently.

"I'm sure there's more to it than just the TARDIS being lonely," was all he said. "Besides, I didn't say it was my father's TARDIS."

"Yeah, cause we've run into so many other Time Lords flitting about," Ace replied sarcastically.

"Let's just go and see what's going on, all right?" was Kyris' patient reply. "And if everything here is OK, then we'll just take off again."

"Fine," Ace grumbled. "I guess we should see how things turned out for Tegan." She paused. "We are in the right time frame, right?"

Kyris nodded. "Looks like it's been a few months, but yeah, we're in the right time frame."

"Then let's do it." Ace suited actions to words as she marched toward the exterior TARDIS door. Kyris opened it, automatically checked that he had his key, and followed, careful to close and lock the door behind them. Leaving it open was never an option, no matter how friendly the territory appeared. The Master had taught them about the dangers of unlocked doors, and neither Kyris nor Ace was the type to have to learn a lesson twice.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_A/N: Merry Christmas to my loyal (and patient) readers! I hope to have another chapter up soon, but it will probably after Christmas. Happy holidays!_


	7. Joining Forces

**oOo**

Nyssa rounded a corner, coming to a stop with a blink of surprise. Hadn't the Doctor's TARDIS been in one of the corridors on a lower deck? She glanced over her shoulder involuntarily, in case she had gone the wrong way in a fog of thought, but no, she was where she thought she had been, on the way to the Arboretum. Two decks above where the TARDIS had last been situated. She stepped closer, but the incongruous blue box remained, solid and real and definitely in the wrong place. The Doctor must have moved it, she concluded, but why?

A sudden thought occurred to her; had he left the station and come back? That would have been grossly unfair to Peri, leaving her innocently touring Terminus and allowing Borean to flirt with her while the Doctor went off who-knew-where. Chasing the Master, perhaps? A sudden hope seized Nyssa, but she forced it down sternly. There was simply no way the Doctor had discovered Tegan and John's whereabouts and brought them back. Not this quickly.

But she couldn't still the sudden increase in her heart rate as she approached the TARDIS and tried the door. Locked. She hesitated, then rapped on the door insistently. Hope was a terrible thing when you didn't know if it was justified.

No answer, even when she called out to him. Nyssa stepped away, head bowed, one hand on the knob, the other rubbing tiredly at her neck. "Where are you, Doctor?" she asked in frustration.

"Probably in his own TARDIS," came an unexpected answer. With a yelp of surprise, Nyssa whirled around to face the speaker.

The voice had been male, and one of the two young people facing her was male, so she assumed he was the speaker. She recognized neither him nor the woman next to him. Nyssa opened her mouth to question them, then paused, staring at the dark-haired man intently. There was something about him, those unearthly blue eyes... "Kyris?" she breathed, disbelieving, swiveling her eyes to study the young woman. "Ace?"

"And you must be Nyssa," Kyris replied, stepping forward to offer his hand. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I presume my father told you what we looked like, left a family portrait in case we dropped in for a visit?"

"No. You have his eyes. The one that's here now," Nyssa corrected herself. She ran absent fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you. And now he's here, but he already knows what's going on," she muttered, half to herself.

"Well, he's one up on us," Ace interjected sourly. "Are you all right?"

Nyssa mustered up a tired smile. "Sometimes. It's your father's fifth self that's here," she said, addressing Kyris, making up her mind on the spot to stick to the truth-telling she'd inadvertently started by blurting things out to the wrong Doctor. No point in keeping anything from his son. "He knows everything that happened. I didn't mean to tell him," she added, forestalling the objection she saw in Kyris' eyes. Ace just looked steadily at her, as if she knew there was more. "But he knows, and it's just as well. The Master's taken Tegan and her son, kidnapped them. He wants his TARDIS back, in exchange."

There it all was in a nutshell, baldly put, but Nyssa was too exhausted for diplomacy.

"So the bastard's stolen another baby," Ace said quietly, but there was something in her tone that promised murder, should she ever get her hands on the Master. "And we've been chasing around the whole bloody universe looking for him, when all we had to do was come here and wait." A bark of laughter escaped her, one that had nothing to do with mirth. "That's rich, that is. What's the word? Ironic."

Kyris put an arm around her shoulder. She made a move as if to shrug it off, but didn't, instead leaned tiredly against him. Not relaxing; the tension in her voice was manifest in every line of her body as well, in the tightness of her lips and lines in her forehead no woman of her tender years should be showing.

"Why does your TARDIS look like the Doctor's?" Nyssa asked, just to change the subject, at least for a moment. "That could get confusing."

"Ace forced this TARDIS into that configuration and smashed the chameleon circuit," Kyris replied, obviously forcing himself not to show any impatience. "Please, tell us about the Master. Where is he?"

Nyssa hesitated a moment. "Let me get my husband and the Doctor's current companion. Meet us two levels down; you'll see your father's TARDIS there, in Corridor C-23. Give me ten minutes." She turned and hurried away, not bothering to wait for an answer.

The other two stared after her. "I guess I know when we've been dismissed," Ace huffed.

Kyris squeezed her hand gently. "Let's go find my father. I suppose it's time to introduce myself to him again. At least he knows what's going on."

Grumbling, Ace allowed herself to be pulled along.

**oOo**

Someone was opening the TARDIS door. Expecting Peri, or possibly Nyssa, the Doctor blinked in surprise as two strange youngsters appeared instead. "Lost?" he asked, then frowned. There was something about the boy... "You're from Gallifrey!" he said in surprised tones.

"Fine way to greet the fruit of your loins," the girl interjected, ignoring the frown that comment generated from both the men in the room. "I'm Ace, this is Kyris, you're the Doctor's fifth self, can we consider ourselves introduced?"

"Is she always this abrupt?" the Doctor asked Kyris with a quirk of an eyebrow.

His son mustered up a ghost of a smile. "She has her moments."

"And I'm sure your moments have been few and far between since the Master stole your daughter," the Doctor said softly, taking a step forward and clasping Ace's hand in both of his. "I can't begin to imagine how that must feel. I'm sorry."

He felt her hand tighten on his, as if to accept his sympathy, then she jerked it free with a glare. "Don't be sorry, be sodding useful! Where's the Master?"

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO'

_A/N: Delays, delays...sorry for the long delays. Next chapter up sooner, I hope!_


	8. Lucky Day

**Elsewhere**

"Today is your lucky day, Tegan Jovanka. Your very, very lucky day."

It's the Master, of course; no one else speaks to her, and his voice is thoroughly imprinted on her consciousness. She tenses, hands fisted on her belt, then unclenches them and allows them to hang by her sides. She does not want to signal her intentions to the Master. Instead of screaming and lunging at him as she wants to, instead she turns as calmly as possible and faces him.

He is holding John. Tegan feels the blood drain from her face, then rush back into it again. She takes a step forward, then stops as the Master half-turns away from her, shielding the baby from her sight with the bulk of his frame and one hand over her son's face. "Come no closer, or I'll send him back to the village."

Tegan stands as still as the proverbial statue, mouth clenched tightly against the protests forming on her tongue. Her hands have balled back into fists, but all thoughts of the belt and the use to which she intended to put it have vanished from her mind. All she can see, all she can think of, is John. Her son. In the hands of the Master.

When it is obvious that Tegan will obey him, the Master removes his hand and turns back so she can fully see her son.

Her six month old son. Her son, with soft brown hair and inquisitive blue eyes. Her own eyes fill with tears; she blinks them away, determined not to allow anything to block her vision, not even herself. He is holding himself upright in the Master's arms, and looks all too comfortable there. More tears threaten; sternly, she orders herself to buck up. _Brave heart, Tegan. _The words echo silently through her mind, stiffening her spine. He is a lovely golden tan and wears nothing more than the simple loin cloths all the children on the island under school-age wear. No freckles, she notes with a tremulous smile. "Please," she whispers, hating herself for begging, but knowing no other way to get what she wants. "Please, let me hold him." She half-raises her trembling arms, the ache in her heart moving from dull throb to full stabbing pain.

"Not just yet." The Master hasn't moved, but John seems restless; he squirms, and the Master stares at him with an odd expression on his face. John's eyes meet his, and the baby suddenly becomes still. Then he smiles and leans forward, grabbing for the Master's nose with a coo of delight. The Master leans back, startled, then barks out a command in the native tongue. The woman who cleans Tegan's home, who presumably spies on her, hurries into the room and takes the child from the Master's arms. Tegan bites her lips to keep from crying out as he is removed from her sight, then she turns on the Master with a vicious curse, rushing past him, uncaring of consequences. She just wants to hold him...

The Master grabs her, jerking her to a stop and twisting her arm cruelly until she cries out in pain. She claws at him, but he is ready for the attack and holds her by the wrists as she kicks at him, fighting and cursing, to no avail.

"Why did you bring him here?" she finally asks as the spate of temper subsides. She looks at him, finally, directly in the eyes; if her son can do so, then so can she. "To torture me?"

"I brought him so you could see that he hasn't been mistreated. I've heard from the Doctor," the Master adds, in the same conversational tone, and Tegan reels backward at the news, terrified and delighted at the same time. The Master releases his two-handed grip, and she absently rubs her wrists as she stares at him. "He's entered the code I left for Nyssa to give him. Like I said, it's your lucky day. I gave him a full year to enter that code before I killed you and took our son to raise in my image."

Tegan feels nothing when he offers the threat to her life, but the thought of John living with the Master, becoming like him, sends a chill over her body that manifests as a violent shiver, a negative shake of the head, a horrified stare. The Master ignores them all as he walks around the main room of the cottage, pretending to examine the sparse furnishings, running a finger over the counter with a critical glance at his finger tips before returning his attention to her.

"It's only a matter of time before he arrives to give me my TARDIS back. Or his; I told him I wouldn't be fussy, although my own is less likely to be booby-trapped," he continues as his circle brings him closer to Tegan once again. "He's sickeningly predictable that way; always off to the rescue, women and children first. Even if they're my women and children."

Tegan can't help it; her hand shoots out, and this time the slap connects. "Bastard," she snarls. "We're none of us _yours_."

Surprisingly, the Master doesn't bother to retaliate. He smirks, ignoring the red mark on his cheek. "Wrong again, my dear Tegan," he purrs. "Myrak is my son. You are his mother; therefore, you are mine."

"His name is John," Tegan says, through clenched teeth. How dare he, how _dare_ he rename her son? A Gallifreyan name, she assumes. One she vows her son will _never_ answer to.

"His name is only your choice if the Doctor comes through," the Master replies, turning and walking away. "You'll know if he does after I've sent him the space/time coordinates for our meeting place. If he shows up, you'll never see me again. If he doesn't..." The Master shrugs and walks out the door without another word.

Tegan runs to the window, but the woman holding her son has already left, no doubt returning to the village at the Master's orders. She almost runs after them, but stops herself, shaking at the effort to remain still. The Master's bodyguards are following him as he takes the path; she almost forgets to be grateful that he has chosen not to use her body this time. "Hells' teeth," she mutters. "Who am I kidding?" Her shoulders slump in defeat. If it meant getting her son back, she'd not only tolerate the Master's touch on her body, she'd welcome it. Encourage it, even.

_Just like before..._

Tegan gives her head a violent shake and walks outside, forcing herself to go slowly. That damn voice, the one in her head, the one she insists on believing is a liar, the one that speaks up at the most inconvenient moments... She sits down on the cliff's edge and watches for the Master's boat. It speeds away from the island a few minutes later, and she fancies she sees him looking up at her. His head moves, at any rate, and it takes no imagination for her to picture the mocking smile on his lips. With a quiet sob, she kneels up and hurls a rock out over the ocean, knowing it to be a futile effort. The rock falls far short, as expected, and thunks into the surf with a distant splash.

Only one thought keeps her from giving in completely to despair, to the rage and anguish pouring through her soul, the one thread of hope the Master has ever deigned to offer.

The Doctor is coming.

The Doctor is coming, and she will have her son back, even if she has to hijack his TARDIS herself and offer it up to the Master on a silver platter.


	9. Following Instructions

**Terminus**

"Well?" Ace was at her most combative, verbally, physically, emotionally. Kyris knew it was useless to try and bring her down to a less battle-ready attitude, but he tried anyway, only to have her shrug his hand off her arm impatiently. She wouldn't even look at him, keeping her eyes trained directly on those of the Doctor. A different Doctor from the one she'd traveled with, a different Doctor from the one who'd fathered him and whom he, ironically enough, had yet to meet.

"I don't know where the Master is. I'm waiting for him to respond to the signal I sent, so the TARDIS can track him down." The words were quietly spoken, meant to diffuse the tension Ace brought to the room by her mere presence, the Doctor's gaze meeting hers with equal firmness. She was the one who finally wavered and broke, looking down at her feet with a snort of disgust, and Kyris knew it was safe to touch her, to take her hand in his and give it a gentle squeeze.

"You sent the signal?" They turned as one, neither Kyris nor Ace recognizing the new voice. A young woman with short brown hair stepped into the TARDIS, followed closely by Nyssa and the man both assumed to be her husband. "What happened? Did he answer yet?"

"Not yet, Peri," the Doctor replied. "Allow me to introduce Ace and my son, Kyris." There was only the slightest of hesitations in his voice as he introduced Kyris. He gestured vaguely toward the two. Ace nodded and Kyris managed a smile and a handshake. "You two have already met Nyssa, and this is her husband, Tyrel." Polite murmurs of acknowledgement, and the introductions were over.

Peri looked dazed. "Future companions, past companions, two TARDISes…this is the craziest trip we've ever taken, Doc."

"And it appears that it's about to become crazier," the Doctor pronounced as a buzzer sounded on the TARDIS console. He stepped lightly to it, pressed a button, then scanned a read-out no one else was close enough to make out. But they could guess; judging by the grimness of the Doctor's expression, the Master had made his reply.

"What does it say?" Ace demanded after only a few seconds had passed. She stepped over, not quite crowding the Doctor, but coming close. "Where is he?"

"He's given us coordinates to follow." The Doctor looked up. "He demands that I come alone, of course."

"Of course." Kyris lips twisted in a sour smile. "How predictable. Does he honestly expect you to do something so monumentally stupid?"

Before the Doctor could object to his son's obvious intentions, Peri spoke up. "We're coming too." She glanced back uncertainly at Nyssa and Tyrel. "Right?"

"Of course," Nyssa said firmly. "Borean has everything under control, and Tyrel and I want to help."

"Fine, of course, off you go then, the lot of you." There was an undertone of irritation in the Doctor's voice, but resignation as well; what else had he expected? "Just don't let the Master catch you following me, or there'll be hell to pay. Follow these coordinates." He tossed off a series of numbers, which Kyris repeated back to him verbatim as soon as he was finished. With a curt nod, he headed for the outer door, Ace right on his heels and the others falling into place behind them. When the parade was gone, the Doctor closed the door, then glanced down at the console.

The numbers he punched in were not the ones he had given to the others, but he wasn't about to put anyone else in the Master's path. Yes, Kyris and Ace had their own reasons to find him, but he doubted very much that their quest to reunite with their daughter would succeed. Susan, he knew firmly, was raised by himself and no one else. Although he thought he recalled a young woman who had acted as a sort of nanny until Susan was a teenager, but whoever she was, it certainly wasn't Ace.

Who was she, then? He puzzled over it for all of a half-second, then dismissed the fuzzy memory from his mind. He had other things to concentrate on, such as rescuing Tegan and her son without sacrificing his TARDIS in the process.

He depressed the button that would set his journey in motion, then sighed and stretched tiredly. When would it end, this running feud with a man who had once been his closest friend?

The answer, he suspected, was never, but he refused to accept it.

Maybe this time, for once, it would truly be over.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_A/N: Hello again, and please accept the usual apologies for the delay. Things are coming to a head and I hope you enjoy this installment. Where did the Doctor send Kyris and the others? And will they discover the ruse in time to do anything? Only the Shadow knows...and my humble self, of course. Stay tuned!_


	10. The Art of Misdirection

"What d'you mean, he's not here?" Ace's voice was strident with displeasure as she glared at Kyris. She stood not more than two feet away from him, fists clenched, but he faced her calmly.

"I mean exactly what I said; he's not here. No signs of a TARDIS, no signs of the Master, not that we know what we're looking for, but I'm fairly certain he's been placed into the body of a bipedal, humanoid life form, and there aren't any here," Kyris replied patiently.

"He tricked us!" Peri exclaimed from the other side of the Console Room, her expression one of wounded disappointment.

"Course he did!" was Ace's scornful reply as she turned her glare on the other woman, then immediately back to Kyris. "Let me guess, he gave you false coordinates on purpose to get us out of the way."

"To keep us safe," Nyssa corrected softly. She touched Peri gently on the shoulder, a gesture of comfort and solidarity. "To enable him to focus on Tegan and John without having to worry about us."

Ace wasn't in the mood to hear the Doctor defended. Especially one she'd only just met and hadn't had the chance to form an opinion on. At least, until now. "We can take care of ourselves, he knows that. Or he should." Once again, she returned her attention to Kyris, this time stepping back the tiniest bit. "So where are we?"

"On an idyllic, uninhabited world in an out-of-the-way part of the Milky Way galaxy," he pronounced. "A great place for a picnic or a day at the beach."

"But not a great place to find the Master and finally give that bastard what he deserves," was Ace's unhappy response. "I could kill him!"

Wisely, everyone refrained from asking or even speculating as to which "him" Ace was referring to. Before she could say anything else, however, Kyris calmly raised one of her clenched fists to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Don't worry, I'll get us there. But you have to help." He glanced at the other three as Ace offered him a puzzled stare. "D'you think you can give us a few minutes? There's a kitchen not too far if anyone wants something to eat or drink."

Tyrel and Nyssa nodded and headed for the door. When Peri seemed about to object, Nyssa grabbed her firmly by the hand and half-dragged her along with them. "A cup of tea sounds just about perfect. Let us know when you want us back."

"It shouldn't take too long." Kyris returned his attention to Ace, still offering him a puzzled stare. "Ace, you were standing next to the Doctor when he had the read-out in his hand, you looked at it, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but all I saw was a bunch of numbers and letters, I couldn't half remember any of it."

"Not consciously," Kyris agreed. "But it's still in your memory. Those were the real coordinates. If you'll let me, with the help of the TARDIS, I should be able to pull those coordinates from your mind."

Ace took another step back, this time unconsciously, the wariness in her face translating into physical movement. "You mean, muck around in my brain?"

"Just to find the coordinates," Kyris replied, keeping his voice low and soothing. Non-threatening. "I give my word, that's all I'll look for and that's all I'll take out."

"I trust _you_," she snapped back, rolling her eyes ceilingward for a brief glare. "But I don't trust this TARDIS."

"I'll just be using the TARDIS to boost the connection, nothing else," Kyris replied. "If you trust me, then trust me to know the limits of a TARDIS when it comes to mental contact."

"All right," Ace agreed abruptly. "But only so we can find that bastard. What do I need to do?"

Kyris pulling her close for a passionate embrace. "I love you, did you know that?" he whispered against her lips when the kiss ended. He turned his head to nuzzle gently at her cheek. "Because you're a bundle of contradictions, because you're not afraid of anything, because of so many reasons I don't have time to list them all." He kissed her ear, then pulled away to tilt her chin up and gaze directly into her eyes. "All you have to do is concentrate on what you saw on that print-out the Doctor had. Don't focus on the numbers, just on the moment in time. Can you do that?"

"Yeah," Ace replied with a reluctant grin. "Course I can. I love you too, but get on with it." She cuffed him gently on the arm, then pushed all other thoughts aside, concentrating fiercely on the moment not so long ago in the Doctor's TARDIS.

Everything around her vanished, disappearing slowly into a white blankness until the only thing she could see was Kyris' eyes, until even they hazed into nothingness. Sound became muffled, the subtle beeps and whirrs of the TARDIS console fading into silence. Slowly a new image formed; the Doctor, standing next to his console, a piece of paper clenched in one hand. She drifted closer with no sense of movement, until suddenly the memory snapped into full existence; the Console Room in its white blandness, the others standing off to the side as she demands to know what the Master said. Then it faded again, until all that was left was the old-fashioned read-out in the Doctor's hand, a line of print, a string of numbers and letters. The real coordinates.

Ace blinked, and suddenly she was back in the present, in the Master's TARDIS (_Kyris' and my TARDIS now_, part of her whispered fiercely), staring dazedly at Kyris. Who was gazing back at her with a triumphant smile. "Got it!" He swooped in for a quick kiss, then dashed to the console and began entering the coordinates. "Tell the others we're on our way."

"Right," Ace mumbled, rubbing her head. It didn't hurt, not exactly, but it didn't feel right, either. She shook her head to clear it, moving slowly at first but rapidly increasing her pace as she regained her mental equilibrium. She paused as she opened the door, glancing back at Kyris. He looked up inquisitively, feeling the weight of her gaze. "Let's not do that again any time soon, OK?"

"It's a deal." Kyris returned his attention to the console, and Ace made her way out of the room, hoping the kitchen was being cooperative and staying in place today. She was in no mood to have to hunt for it.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

_Author's Note: Remember the old saying: Anything worth having is worth waiting for. This is definitely a "slow and steady wins the race" kind of story, but I hope it's worth it. Please let me know, and I will try to pick up the pace as my "real" life permits._


	11. Come Together

**Elsewhere**

Tegan awakens early, after a restless night's sleep, and forces herself to prepare and eat her simple, healthy, boring (God, she's sick of fruit and simple grains and juice) breakfast. She knows it's not logical to expect the Doctor to appear today, but she does. The Master said he entered the code, and the Doctor has never been one to put things off. If he is coming today, she will be ready. If the Master truly intends to return her son to her and leave them in peace if he gets what he wants (_but does he really intend any of that_, the cynical voice inside her head asks, one she does her best to ignore), then she will be more than ready.

If the Master keeps his word, fine. If not, if he follows his usual pattern of betrayal and double-dealing, well, there's always her belt and her original plan. But she pins her hopes on the Doctor; if anyone can get through a sticky situation and out-think the Master, he can.

She knows the Master will be back, that he plans to have her and John safely nearby. If he were going to meet the Doctor elsewhere, he would take them with him, not trusting them out of his sight at such a delicate juncture. Not after going to so much trouble, putting so much time and effort into taking and keeping them for just this purpose. Bargaining chips, hostages, just something for him to exchange for what he really wants.

It certainly isn't the first time Tegan feels used by the Master, but God willing, it will be the last.

**oOo**

Kyris opened the TARDIS door. Warm sea air flowed in as he and the others filed out and onto the beach they'd landed next to. Unconsciously, Nyssa stretched, turning with closed eyes to feel the warmth of the tropical sun on her face. "Long time on that space station?" Peri asked. She, too, appeared to be enjoying the view. At least the Master had chosen a paradise for the rendezvous.

Nyssa grinned and opened her eyes. "I guess I didn't realize how much I missed the ground under my feet and sunshine." She turned to Tyrel with shining eyes. "We have to take a vacation after all this is over!"

"If we make it out in one piece." That bit of sour grapes came from Ace. Of course. She looked around with no appearance of either enjoyment or distaste; it was obvious she saw this place as nothing more than the next stop in her quest to be restored to her daughter. "Well?" She turned to Kyris. "Which way?"

He pointed down the beach. "That way. There's a village and some crop fields near what looks to be a natural harbor. Just around that headland." He nodded, and the others obediently raised their eyes. "Looks like we might have to wade a bit, but the water shouldn't be too deep; the tides out fairly far." He nodded again, and they duly noted the rocks appearing above the gentle waves about a half-mile or so out.

"What about the TARDIS? Is it safe to leave it here?" Peri gave a worried frown as she glanced over her shoulder. She'd changed to shorts and sturdy sneakers from the wardrobe room, as had Nyssa and Tyrel, both appearing happy to shuck their uniforms even under the current circumstances.

Kyris patted his pocket. He, too, wore shorts and a pair of water shoes, or so Peri assumed them to be. Ace hadn't bothered to change, but the other Earth woman suspected she could care less if she was soaked to the skin, as long as they caught up to the Master. "It's locked up tight, and the Master won't be expecting us, he'll be too focused on the Doctor. There are no humanoid life forms nearby, and no signs of inhabitation on this side of the island. Which is why I landed us here," he added, turning and trudging across the sand. "We should get going before the tide starts to turn, unless you all want to hike up that hill and down the other side."

The hillside was covered in jungle, making it difficult to judge exactly how steep it might be, but it was obvious wading around the cliff side was the faster way to go. Without another word, the others fell into line behind him. All except Ace, who had, predictably enough, started without them. She walked steadily, not bothering to see if they were behind her or not, not acknowledging Kyris when he caught up to her and fell into step on her right. She looked neither at the ocean or the jungle, staring straight ahead.

The Master was finally within her reach, and she was determined not to let him escape again.

Not until he gave her back her daughter.

**oOo**

The Doctor paused before exiting his TARDIS. Had he done the right thing, sending the others off on a wild goose chase? He shook his head, then stepped through the door. Of course he had. Even if the Master hadn't demanded he come alone, he would have insisted on doing so. He already had two hostages; why give him access to five more? Especially Ace; he didn't like the look in her eyes, didn't know her well enough to tell if he could trust her to let him take the lead. Perhaps his future self might be better able to keep her in check, but he doubted his own ability to do so. Or his son's.

His son. As he strolled down the beach toward the village that lay about a half-mile away from him, he allowed his thoughts to wander. Kyris. His son, his and Romana's. Why hadn't she told him? It was a question he intended to ask his son about, because of all his memories, he was absolutely certain he would have held on to any that concerned parenthood. He'd always known Susan was his grand-daughter, of course, but it hadn't really occurred to him to question her parentage before this. "And I shouldn't be doing so now," he murmured to himself, clapping his hat more firmly on his head and quickening his pace. He should be concentrating on the Master, on how he intended to save Tegan and her son, all without sacrificing his TARDIS. He should be going over his plans.

The problem was, he hadn't made any. Nothing had come to mind, and although he hated to rely on his usual habit of winging it when the stakes were so high, he'd always worked that way before. Well, mostly. At any rate, he expected something would come to him. It usually did.

_And if it doesn't?_ a voice asked. He ignored it.

Something would come to him.

He wouldn't let Tegan down. Not this time.


	12. Elsewhere, Named

**Elsewhere, Named**

"Primus Seven."

"Huh?" Peri gave Kyris a puzzled frown as she huffed her way up the slight incline.

"The planet. It's called Primus Seven," the Doctor's son clarified. "In case you were wondering." Then, without a perceptible pause or change in tone: "And it's OK to stare at me. I don't mind."

"What? No, I wasn't…well, I guess I was. Sort of," Peri stammered, blushing. She and Kyris were slightly behind the others, with Ace naturally in the lead. Kyris had given up trying to talk to Ace or slow her down, and seeing Nyssa and Tyrel deep in some private conversation, had opted to keep Peri company instead. She had been nearly as silent as Ace, but he'd caught her sneaking glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking. Once they'd made it around the headland and back on dry land, he'd decided to bring her obvious curiosity into the open.

"So, am I not what you expected?" he prodded with a slight grin. "Or are you still just getting used to the idea of the Doctor having a son?"

"A little of both, I guess." Peri grinned back, but her blush intensified. "I'm sorry, it just takes a lot of getting used to. The Doc and I haven't been traveling together all that long, but I do know he never seems to want to talk about himself. Places he's been, sure, places we're going, absolutely. And me?" Her grin widened. "He's willing to listen to me talk about myself till the cows come home, but as soon as I ask him anything about himself we're suddenly in the middle of another conversation. Or in trouble," she added reflectively. "We seem to end up in trouble a lot."

"But you still travel with him, still want to be in the TARDIS, right?"

Peri nodded, brushing strands of hair out of her face as the mild breeze suddenly kicked up before subsiding. "You bet! No matter what, this has been a blast! Oh, except for this, and the Master taking your baby…" She closed her mouth, desperately trying not to stick her feet any further into it than she already had, but Kyris merely smiled in understanding and patted her shoulder.

"Oi!" That was Ace; they both looked toward that hail. She had come to a stop, and they hurried to her side, Nyssa and Tyrel joining them as well. Ace waited impatiently, body almost vibrating with the need to move forward, but Kyris placed a warning hand on her arm and she subsided, frowning, as they took a look around.

They stood at the edge of a cultivated field of some sort of low-growing, long-leaved crop, lush and green and broken only by the occasional stand of purple palm trees. On the far side was the village they had been aiming for, a scene of whitewashed one-story buildings with red tile roofs that were vaguely Mediterranean in style, with dark wooden doors offset by wide, bay windows on either side. Most of the people were too far away to make out much detail, but Peri noted dark hair and brightly colored clothing on the ones working on the fields closer to the village.

They hugged the edge of the jungle-like growth at the foot of the headland, not quite hiding but not going out of their way to be noticed; it was as much of a compromise as Ace was willing to make. She was all for just bulling her way across the fields and demanding to be taken to the Master, but Kyris, after a moment of intense debate, had talked her into being a little more circumspect. At least for now. This was the closest the two of them had come to the Master in six months, and Kyris didn't want to ruin their chances by moving too hastily.

When they were nearly at the village, they came across a path that led up the gentle slope that the headland became on this side. Hurrying away from the village was a woman with a baby in her arms, speaking soothingly to him as he squirmed and fussed, obviously unhappy. What was most noticeable about them, however, was the obvious racial differences between them; the baby was fair-skinned, with light brown hair and round blue eyes, whereas the woman had deeply tanned skin, waist-length braided black hair and almond-shaped green eyes that wore an obvious expression of anxiety. She was focused on calming the baby, so she didn't notice the newcomers until Ace deliberately stepped into her path, adroitly avoiding Kyris' attempt to hold her back.

"Is that John? Is that Tegan's baby?" Ace demanded as the woman skidded to a stop with a yelp of surprise. The baby stopped squirming and stared at Ace, a delighted babble coming from his lips as he reached for her. She held out her hand automatically, but the woman snatched the baby's fingers away with a look of alarm.

"Please, you have to let us go!" the woman replied, desperation in her voice. "I don't know who you are, but if HE finds us here, the consequences will be grave!"

"They'll be even more grave for you if you don't answer the question," Ace growled, pointing at the baby. "Is this John Jovanka?"

The woman hesitated, then nodded. "That is how his mother calls him. But HE calls the boy Myrak. We are forbidden to talk to his mother, but I have heard HIM call her Tegan."

Ace held out her arms. "We've come to bring Tegan and John away from here. Give him to me."

The woman hugged the baby closer, shrinking back in fear. "I cannot! If HE finds out…"

"HE has bigger things to worry about right now," Ace snapped back. Kyris stepped to her side, while Peri and the other two arranged themselves behind them. "This isn't the first baby he's stolen."

"I know." The woman straightened, her eyes blazing. "HE took our Sacred One, and has been holding him hostage, forcing us to help him. HE promised that we would have the Sacred One back as soon as the one he calls the Doctor arrives." She eyed Kyris doubtfully. "You are not he, are you?"

Kyris shook his head. "No, sorry, just the Doctor's son. But he should be here soon, if he isn't already. Have you seen a big blue box anywhere? That just appeared out of nowhere, perhaps?"

The woman's brow wrinkled in confusion, and she shook her head. "Nothing has appeared out of nowhere except you. You say you are the Doctor's son; did he send you?" Hope kindled in her eyes. "Will you bring back the Sacred One?"

"Do you know where the Master has him?" Kyris asked, taking a gentler tone with the woman. "What is your name?"

"Alanna," she replied willingly. "And no, we do not. We only know that he has not taken him off planet."

"How do you know that?" Peri asked curiously.

"Because we would feel it, in our souls, just as we would know if he were unwell or dead," Alanna replied simply.

Without warning, Ace reached forward and snatched the baby out of her arms, cuddling him close as he crowed in happiness, patting her face and pulling on what little of her hair he could reach. "Look, I'm sorry about your Sacred One, but the Master took our daughter away from us six months ago, and I'm not waiting another sodding minute to get her back if I don't have to! Where is he?"

The woman shrank back as Ace's voice increased in volume, and she pointed shakily up the hill in the direction she had originally been heading. "HE is with Tegan, at the Sacred One's home. His men directed me to bring the boy to him by the noon hour."

"How many of them are there?" Ace demanded. The baby squealed and managed to yank on a good sized chunk of her hair. She yelped more in surprise than in pain, staring down at John in momentary distraction. She found herself resisting an urge to kiss him on the end of his button nose, instead turning and thrusting him into Nyssa's arms. He squawked in outrage at this abuse, but settled down once Nyssa began murmuring to him, Tyrel adding his own help by tickling his toes.

Alanna was answering the question Ace had barked at her, speaking directly to Kyris. "There are two of his men with him, and two others at the hovercraft in the bay." She waved in the general direction of the village. "They are Excommunicate," she added with a black scowl. "They have defiled themselves by assisting HIM for money."

"All right, so he's up there, he has two men with him, time to go," Ace said, pushing past Alanna. Kyris grabbed her hand, and she turned to glare at him. "What?"

"We can't just go barreling up there without some kind of plan," he replied patiently. He spared a glance for Alanna. "Thank you. We'll do our best to make sure the Master lives up to his promise and return the Sacred One. In return, I only ask that you not inform anyone that we're here, or that we have John."

He held her gaze for a long moment, then she nodded and smiled. "I believe you. I will speak of this to no one. I pray for your success." With those words, she turned and headed back toward the village.

Kyris took a deep breath. "Right. Time to come up with a plan."

Ace stopped tugging at his hand, shrugging in capitulation, although her face remained turned toward the upward arc of the path. "Make it fast," she snapped. "No promises."

Kyris looked at the others. "Nyssa, I think you should take John back to the TARDIS. Just in case." He glanced at the bit of sky showing through the purple foliage. "You should have just enough time to make it before the tide gets too high."

"Of course." She spared a quick kiss for her husband. "Come and get us when it's all settled." He gaze returned to John. "All right, young man, time for us to get reacquainted. Do you remember me at all, are you Trakenite enough for that?" Kyris handed her his TARDIS key, and she vanished into the jungle.

"Plans," Ace growled, tapping a foot impatiently. "Got one yet?"

Kyris gave her a confident smile. "Of course I do."


	13. Going Pear Shaped

**oOo**

"Tegan! How splendid to see you! What are you doing here, of all places?" The Doctor wore a mask of pleased astonishment, but he carefully watched to see how his former traveling companion would react to his decidedly unexpected presence.

As expected, she gaped at him for no more than an instant before gasping, "Doctor? What are you doing here? You're not the right one!" She sounded terrified, and he regretted the part he was forced to play, that of innocent ignorance, but it was vital to his plan that Tegan react naturally.

He frowned, moving slowly toward her, not wanting to startle her any more than he already had. She stood far too close to the cliff's edge for comfort, and he stopped a few feet away before answering. "What d'you mean, I'm the wrong one? The wrong me, you mean?" He allowed the frown to deepen. "Were you expecting one of my other selves?" He allowed a touch of bewilderment to enter his voice. "Why? What's going on?"

"That's a very good question, Doctor." This time he didn't have to falsify his reactions; he truly hadn't heard the Master come up behind them, and Tegan had been so fixated on his own unexpected presence that she apparently hadn't noticed, either.

At least, he presumed it was the Master, the stranger with the hand-held weapon pointed at them. No beard this time, a clean-shaven face, dark-eyed and brown-haired, tall and lean but still clad in his signature black, the long-sleeved jumpsuit strikingly out of place in this tropical paradise of an island.

They studied each other for a moment, the Doctor unmoving in case the Master decided to shoot first and ask more questions later. "Well? Miss Jovanka is correct; you're the wrong Doctor."

"And you're the wrong Master," the Time Lord replied slowly. "At least, I presume that's you?" He squinted a little, then gestured toward the other man, indicating the weapon and black clothing. "It's certainly your style."

"This is certainly an interesting conundrum," the Master mused. "A Doctor, a TARDIS, a Master, a hostage." He grinned savagely. "Time for an exchange, even if you don't necessarily understand what's going on here. One hostage for one TARDIS."

"Two hostages," Tegan interrupted her voice shaky but her eyes blazing with fury. "Don't you dare try and keep my son!"

While the Doctor did his best to pull off wide-eyed amazement at Tegan's "revelation," he carefully maintained his attention on the Master. How he responded to Tegan's words would inform the Doctor's next move. Because, without a doubt, Tegan was going to do something incredibly stupid if she heard the wrong answer; stupid and brave and ultimately fatal, if he wasn't quick enough.

A bark of laughter escaped the Master's lips. "Of course, what use would I have for your brat? Although it would be an interesting experiment in nature vs. nurture, all I really want is a way to resume my travels through space and time. Since I no longer have my TARDIS," he turned his attention back to the Doctor, "yours will do quite nicely." He held out his free hand. "The key, if you please."

A voice rang out from near the cottage. "Don't do it!"

The Doctor ground his teeth in frustration. Kyris and Ace, of course, with the others no doubt bringing up the rear. So much for sending them off to a safe location while he took care of this mare's nest himself.

"Doctor, you don't understand what's at stake here!" That was Kyris again, and his father's fifth self blinked in confusion he didn't otherwise dare allow himself to show. "You know it's my father's seventh self you're waiting for, he's the one who'll be coming to deal with you. He didn't know I was on Terminus; I'm the one who answered the call but he's on his way, don't do anything rash."

Ah, playing for time; the Doctor understood now. Of course, it didn't help him with his own semi-carefully laid plans, but there was nothing wrong with a spot of improvisation. As long as the outcome was the one they all wanted.

Well, maybe not all. With a sound very much like a feral growl, Ace launched herself at the Master. "Give us back our daughter, you bastard!" she howled as she bowled into him. A single shot blasted from the end of the laser, and Kyris dropped like a stone, clutching his burned shoulder.

Ace and the Master grappled for possession of the still-smoking weapon even as the Doctor snatched Tegan out of the way. "Get into the cottage," he snapped. "And bring my idiotic son with you!" Tegan jumped to obey, not bothering to argue for once in her life. The Doctor turned his attention to the struggling forms in front of him, tensed to jump in as soon as he could do so without furthering endangering his enraged future companion.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

_Author's Note: Thanks to LilacFree for inspiring the name of this chapter. Opinions and reviews encouraged and greatly appreciated!_


	14. House Mates

**oOo**

Tegan dragged Kyris' semi-conscious form into the relative safety of her cottage, spared just a moment to make sure he wasn't in imminent danger of dying - the wound was high and undoubtedly painful, but in her judgment ultimately survivable - then crouched low and peeked through the window that faced the cliff. Ace was howling like a madwoman, screaming for the Master to give her back her daughter, while the Master fought her off with deadly silence - but no real success, Tegan noted with satisfaction. The Doctor was crouched in a stance that suggested the desire to launch himself at the other two but she could tell he was waiting for the right moment.

"Your son he's safe."

Tegan's head snapped around as Kyris croaked out those words. "What? What do you mean?" she gasped, all thoughts of the fight going on outside forgotten. She rushed back to Kyris' side, crouching next to him. "Where is he?"

"With Nyssa in our TARDIS," he mumbled, then dropped into full unconsciousness.

Tegan could have shaken him out of sheer frustration. "Where? Where's your bloody TARDIS?" she demanded, but Kyris remained inert.

The wound on his shoulder was seeping blood, but not as much as she'd expected. She crawled over toward the bed with some vague idea of both keeping her head down and tearing up the sheet to wrap the wound when a sound near the front door caught her attention. The scuff of a foot against the floor, perhaps; cautiously raising her head and peering around the edge of the bed, she felt her heart skip in relief as she saw Tyrel moving with equal caution toward her.

He caught her eye at almost the same moment, and his face lit up as he grinned with relief. "Tegan!" he whispered, then appeared to notice Kyris' unconscious form. "What happened?" he demanded as he dropped to his knees, all business.

"The Master shot him, some kind of laser weapon. Is he going to be all right?" she added anxiously as she handed him the pillow case she'd grabbed.

"Looks like a clean shot, painful, but it appears to have cauterized itself so the bleeding at the entrance and exit wounds is already slowing down," Tyrel pronounced after a moment's study. He used the pillow case to staunch the weakened flow, packing it in carefully and professionally in a manner that Tegan envied; her field bandages always looked like bulky messes.

Once he was done, he pronounced it safe to move Kyris to Tegan's bed, which they proceeded to do with much grunting and under breath cursing, at least on Tegan's part; he was a lot heavier than he looked. When that was finished, she turned to Tyrel, throwing her arms around him for a long hug. "He said John's safe, that he's on their TARDIS. Can you take me to him?" The words came out much calmer than she felt.

Tyrel's arms tightened around her before he released his hold. "Not yet. The Master's two guards are outside, on the other side of the house. They know we're here by now, there's no way they couldn't know," he added with a rueful glance at the window. "Not with that ruckus going on outside. I managed to sneak in, but there's no way of telling if they're still in the same place. My guess is that they've been given orders to stay put unless specifically called for, but I don't suppose we can count on that if we actually put ourselves in front of them."

"Right, so we let the Doctor and Ace take care of the Master, but the guards are up to us." She nodded firmly. "Let's go."


	15. Cliff Hanger

**oOo**

_Why_, the Doctor thought, _why did it _never_ go to plan?_

Ace had managed somehow to wrestle the weapon away from the Master, but that was the only thing that seemed to be going well. Every time the Doctor thought he had an opening, they would inch closer to the cliff's edge, or the Master would have his hands wrapped firmly around Ace's neck, or something else would stop his forward momentum. He studied the scene before him, then finally decided he was over-thinking the problem.

He leapt forward, tacking the two combatants, bringing them both slamming to the ground and not incidentally knocking the breath out of himself on the way. The gun went rolling one way, but Ace and the Master remained in a stubborn tangle. The harder the Doctor tried to hold on, the harder they kicked themselves free of his desperate grasp. "Stop fighting me!" he shouted when he got his breath back, only to be rewarded by a smart rap to the side of his head from someone's wildly flailing–and heavily shod--foot. With a grunt of pain, he reflexively loosened his grasp, and the other two went rolling toward the edge of the cliff.

Shouting a warning, he lunged forward, ignoring the ringing in his head, and grabbed desperately for a leg–Ace's, as it turned out. Someone screamed, he wasn't sure who, and he dug in his elbows and tightened his grasp on Ace's leg. Which seemed much heavier than it should be, a fact which turned out to be because the Master had gone fully over the cliff's edge and was hanging by Ace's hand. A Time Lord on either end, she was half-way over the edge herself, but managed to stop herself once the Doctor's grasp tightened. "I'm backing up now," the Doctor said in a loud, clear voice. "Ace, try and dig your feet in until I can get your arms up over the edge."

"Come on, you bastard, you're not getting away that easily," was Ace's only response, and it obviously wasn't to him. "Grab my other hand!"

Slowly, painfully, the Doctor pulled himself backwards until the sudden easing of the weight told him that Ace was fully back on the cliff. He spared a glance, saw that she was secure, then hurried forward to help her bring the Master back up as well.

He was grinning up at them, the smile widening as he saw the Doctor's head peering cautiously over the edge. "Well, well, not quite the meeting I had planned, Doctor, but then they never seem to go the way I intend."

The Doctor ignored the bitter words, extending his hand to join Ace's. "It's over, Master. Time to take your medicine. We've got John safely stowed away, and I've no doubt I'll be able to find the Sacred One since he's still on the planet, or so I've been assured. A unique bio-signature shouldn't be too difficult for the TARDIS to trace." He leaned forward precariously. "Take my hand. You have no other choice."

"Haven't I?" The bitterness reached his eyes, and his mouth twisted in a grimace of disdain. "You've won this time, Doctor, but never fear; I shall prevail next time." With those words, he reached up with his free hand and swiped viciously at Ace's fingers. She yelped with pain, her hand spasming, releasing the Master, who fell without a sound until his body crashed into the rocky coast below.

Ace and the Doctor stared after him for a long moment in stunned silence. When Ace spoke again, it was with a stream of invective that had more of desperation than anger to it. "No," she whispered. "Not again, you're not getting away without giving me back my daughter!" But the evidence was clear; the Master was dead, and the Doctor as usual was left to clean up after his rival's mess.

He put an arm around Ace's shoulders and very gently pulled her back from the cliff's edge. "There's nothing we can do about him, but we really should check on Kyris and the others," he said, his voice as gentle as his hold. "Come one Ace, there's a girl; live to fight another day and all that."

She glared at him, but weakly, as if her anger had fallen to the bottom of the cliff with the Master. He thought he saw a glimmer in her eyes that might have been tears or might have been the remains of that anger, but either way he would never know. She pulled out of his embrace, came to her knees and then her feet, and strode to Tegan's bungalow without a backward glance.


	16. Reunited

**oOo**

"All right, John, let's see about getting you something clean to wear, shall we?" Nyssa wrinkled her nose. John had soiled his loincloth at some point during the long trek to Kyris' TARDIS, but she couldn't find it in her heart to be upset; she was too happy to be holding her godson in her arms once again. He kept pulling at her curls and babbling happily, so nothing short of planetary disaster could spoil her mood. She headed for the TARDIS wardrobe room, happy to see that the colors tended toward a mixture rather than the dark items favored by the Master's tenure. She even found cloth nappies and old-fashioned diaper pins and the nearest lav had a baby changing station. Probably added by Ace in her stubborn determination to be reunited with her daughter, Nyssa thought with a surge of pity, then returned her attention to John and the immediate need he presented.

A half-hour later, with John bathed and changed and happily unstuck by any of the pins, in spite of Nyssa's fears to the contrary, they emerged into the Console Room. She'd left the door firmly closed, just in case, but judged that enough time had passed that it might be safe to emerge. "Let's take a peek, shall we?" she asked as she deftly operated the viewing screen one-handed. "Hmm, looks, quiet enough, what do you think, should be stay inside or head back out and wait for the others?"

Even as she asked the question, she knew the answer; stay inside and keep John safe until the others came to get them. Of course, if something had gone horribly wrong, she'd know it when too much time had passed, but she refused to think about it until she had to. A half an hour wasn't long by any stretch of the imagination, even taking into account the additional half-hour it had taken her to walk back to the TARDIS. So an hour had gone by; she'd give them several more in case mopping-up (was that the right phrase, or was it sweeping up? she wondered idly) took longer than expected.

She was debating whether or not to open the door and let some of that marvelous fresh air in, watching as John crawled around the floor, when an unexpected, vaguely feminine voice startled her. "Warning: Storage capacity compromised due to destruction of main program. Immediate transfer to be initiated using emergency protocols via back-up system." Alarmed, Nyssa snatched John into her arms, alarmed, not quite sure what to do, when the voice sounded again. This time she could tell the voice was mechanical in nature, but it was difficult to tell where it originated as it seemed to echo throughout the Console Room. "Emergency protocols initiated. Transfer complete."

The voice went silent once again, leaving Nyssa once again pondering the wisdom of remaining in the TARDIS or waiting outside; Kyris had said nothing about any sort of transfer protocol when he sent her back, nor had she ever heard that mechanical voice before.

Before she reached a decision, a pounding on the door caught her attention. Automatically she glanced up at the view screen, then was relieved to see Tegan. "Let me in, Nyssa! Let me see him!"

Nyssa gladly opened the doors, rushing into her friend's arms for a quick embrace before Tegan swooped down on her son, much to his dismay. He squawked in alarm, then fell silent as he studied his mother's smiling face. She leaned forward and very gently pressed her forehead to his before kissing his nose. He laughed and clapped, and she hugged him close, tears of joy glimmering on her eyelashes.

Tyrel was right behind them, rushing to Nyssa for an embrace of his own before turning to look at Tegan and John. Tears were streaming down Tegan's face as she rained kisses on her son's head and nose and any other part the squirming infant would allow her access to. "Thank God you're all right," she whispered, finally raising her eyes to meet those of her two friends. "Thank you for keeping him safe."

"Is the Doctor taking care of the Master?" Nyssa hated to ask, hated to bring down the mood even for a moment, but had to know.

Tegan's face darkened. "He fell over a cliff, and not a moment too soon as far as I'm concerned," she growled. "Ace says he let himself fall rather than be taken prisoner."

"Kyris was shot, but he'll be fine," Tyrel reported, taking up the narrative thread as Tegan's attention once again returned to her son. "The Doctor took him to his TARDIS for treatment. Peri and Ace went with them, but she's in a right mood." No need to clarify which "she" he meant.

"I imagine she would be," Nyssa murmured with a sympathetic frown. "She was counting on making the Master tell her how to get Susan back."

"Well, they're going to meet us here after the Doctor finds the missing Sacred One," Tyrel finished with a tired sigh. "I'm glad to see you two didn't have any adventures; watching Ace and the Master fighting on the edge of a cliff was more than enough excitement for me."

"Let's go to the beach," Tegan said suddenly. Nyssa and Tyrel turned to her in surprise, and she laughed at their dubious expressions. "I know, you'd think all I'd want was to be off this miserable planet, but it is rather beautiful and I haven't exactly been able to enjoy it. I want to see if he likes the surf and the sand and just watch him for a while. D'you think we could?"

"I don't see why not," Tyrel replied after exchanging questioning glances with his wife. "As long as we stay close by, leave a note or something, we should be fine; the Master's guards are being dealt with by the villagers." His voice turned grim. "Apparently what they've committed is beyond treason, and frankly I don't want to know what their punishment will be."

"They deserve whatever they get," Tegan replied flatly. "Let's go to the beach and just pretend we're on holiday for an hour. I think we deserve that much."

"At least," Nyssa agreed with a warm smile. She walked out with her arm around her friend's waist, leaving Tyrel to lock up, the strange mechanical voice she'd heard forgotten in the emotion of the moment.


	17. On Holiday

**oOo**

The Doctor looked out at the beach. Nyssa, Tegan, Tyrel and John were frolicking--yes, definitely frolicking--in the surf, and it brought a brief smile to his face as Peri joined them with a shout of welcome. A host of the villagers had searched unsuccessfully for the Master's body, while he'd taken Kyris to his TARDIS for medical treatment, and to fine-tune the sensors to search for a unique bio-signature that would indicate the presence of the Sacred One. One hour later, boom, the baby had been restored, the grateful citizens had begun what he suspected would be a night-long celebration, and he'd managed to slip away and rejoin his companions in a quiet little celebration of their own.

Well, most of them. He frowned. Ace and Kyris had left after retrieving their key from Tyrel, neither one wanting to dampen the others' moods. "It was wonderful to get to meet you," Kyris had said in a wistful tone. "But Ace and I, we're not likely to be good company for a while." He'd awkwardly hugged his father one-handedly, then hurried after Ace, who had already started trudging to the TARDIS, the key clenched in her fist like a weapon, the expression on her face grim.

The Doctor felt sorrow clog his throat, then cleared it uncomfortably. They were his future and his past, all mixed up together, but they had given him Susan, however, unwillingly, and although he would never express it to them, he was grateful for his time with his granddaughter.

The frown deepened as his thoughts led him down darker paths yet. He could feel grateful to Ace and Kyris, but not to the Master. Never to the Master. His part in all of this was, frankly, unforgivable. He'd paid yet again with his life, but like the proverbial bad penny, the Doctor sensed that he would show back up some day to disrupt the lives of innocent beings.

One of those innocent beings was raising and lowering her son into the water, smiling blissfully as he kicked and laughed. If John had any of the Trakenite empathic abilities, as Nyssa had assured the Doctor he had, then he was the happiest baby in the universe right now, surrounded by loved ones and the absolute center of attention.

Shaking off his thoughts, he approached the water's edge, clearing his throat uncomfortably. Peri noticed him first and nudged Tegan, who lifted John protectively when she saw the Doctor's somber expression. "What is it? What's wrong?" she demanded. Tyrel and Nyssa moved closer, protectively, and the Doctor allowed himself a private smile in recognition of their solicitude.

"Kyris and Ace have left," he announced, after considering exactly how to express the news. Nothing but the bald truth would do, he finally decided. "They weren't in the proper mood for celebration, and asked me to say good-bye to you for them."

He'd done exactly what he hadn't wanted to do; utterly destroyed the mood. But as soon as he made an appearance, someone would have asked about the other two, and delaying that appearance would have led to a search party. All of which would have ended the same way. A pity, but there was nothing to be done about.

Tegan was still holding John, who was squirming in her arms and pointing at the water, babbling incoherently but insistently. The Doctor cleared his throat again. "Tegan, your son appears to be in the mood for more splashing."

"And yours is gone without you getting a chance to know him," she replied without thinking. Her eyes widened in consternation as she realized what she'd said, and she started to stammer an apology that he cut off with a quick smile and raised hand.

"So he is," was all he said. He looked at the group of them, ankle-deep in the warm tropical waters, and his smile widened. "One other bit of news; I promised the Elders that we would remain until morning and a formal leave-taking ceremony." They had been quite insistent, and he had agreed without consulting any of his current companions on the matter, knowing that as long as Tegan had her son and no threat of the Master, she wouldn't care where she was. Or so he assumed; he shot her a questioning glance. "That is, if you don't mind?"

She shook her head, a quick smile of her own forming at the unexpected solicitude in his voice. The Doctor didn't usually ask permission, and he hadn't this time, not really, but it was nice to be consulted, even after the fact. Funny what a difference a baby made...Her attention returned to her son. "This is the only home John remembers; I think I can give him one more night here before you take us back to Terminus." As if in response to her words, John stopped squirming and let out a prodigious yawn. "Tired already, little man?" She looked back at the Doctor, her grin distinctly mischievous this time. "Does the TARDIS have a nursery?"

Everyone was gazing at him with interest; he responded with as much dignity as possible under the circumstances. "Yes, as a matter of fact, it does. I daresay as soon as we bring John on board, the room will make itself available to us."

"If you don't mind, Tyrel and I are going for a walk," Nyssa announced, taking her husband's hand in hers. "We may not be back to the TARDIS for some time."

"Take as long as you like," the Doctor replied. "There are no dangerous predators on this particular island."

"You should take a blanket," Peri put in. "In case you want to lie down and look at the moon or something." She held her eyes innocently wide, then turned back to the Doctor. "Do you think anyone would mind if I went back to the village? They said something about dancing and a feast, didn't they? Or was that for tomorrow?"

"No, dancing and feasting takes place tonight. And we're all welcome to join in," he added, although he suspected none of the others were eager to take the villagers up on the offer.

Peri grinned eagerly. "Don't wait up for me, then. I have my key!" She headed off without another word or a look back.

Nyssa, meanwhile, had hurried into the TARDIS and retrieved a blanket from the Wardrobe Room. Giving Tegan a quick peck on the cheek, she and Tyrel turned and strolled down the beach, hand in hand, her head resting on his shoulder. The sun was setting, and for the first time Tegan allowed herself to notice how spectacular a sunset it was. John nestled closer, resting his head on her shoulder, eyes drooping and thumb firmly in mouth. "I supposed you'd better show me that nursery," she murmured, flashing a grin at the Doctor.

He grinned back before sweeping one arm forward in an "after you" gesture.


	18. Nursery Time

**oOo**

"Wicker," Tegan announced, looking around appreciatively. "Victorian?"

"Yes, my first self was rather a fiend for that particular era," the Doctor replied, his gaze resting on the furniture, still looking as fresh and new as the day he'd acquired it. A white wicker bassinet, changing table and dresser, and a beautiful wooden crib in one corner, with soft white blankets, a cheerful blue throw rug in the middle of the room...exactly as he remembered it, now that he chose to bring those memories forth. Instead of the usual TARDIS roundel-indented walls, there was white wainscoting, white chair-rail, and walls painted a soft blue. Blue was the Victorian color for girls, he recalled fondly, but it would do just as well for John.

Tegan was poking around, making approving noises as she found nappies and clothing and a small trash bin next to the changing table. She opened one of the room's three doors to find a closet, and the next one was revealed to open into a small bedroom with a private bathroom off that. "I know where I'll be sleeping," she announced, leaving the door open and placing John on the changing table. She leaned down and kissed him on the nose. "Time for you to remember what it's like to wear pajamas to bed, my lad."

Her son was remarkably calm throughout the entire changing-diapering-powdering process, which the Doctor observed with interest. Tegan moved quickly and efficiently, not giving her son time to protest had he been so inclined, but the boy's half-closed eyes were fully closed by the time she finished. She gently placed him in the crib, gazing down at him lovingly before finally, reluctantly turning away.

The Doctor held up his hand, in which a small device rested. "This," he announced, "is a portable monitor. You'll be able to hear him even if--I mean when, you leave the TARDIS." He looked surprised at himself for forgetting that she wasn't staying more than a single night, but she appreciated the effort and took the small device. It attached easily to the waist of her sarong, but she pulled it off immediately.

"A problem?" the Doctor asked.

She plucked at the edges of the colorful cloth. "This. It's time for some proper clothes, maybe a quick trip to the Wardrobe room before I plunge into that sinful looking bath tub?"

"No need," he said, pleased to be able to offer her one last gift. "I've still got your clothes from before, since you never took them with you. They're in the dresser, along with some of your things from Terminus, if you'd rather wear them."

"A black leather mini doesn't seem to fit with motherhood," Tegan grinned, "but I appreciate the effort." She unsuccessfully stifled a yawn. "Goodness, I guess I'll be ready for bed after that bath."

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Ah. Well, then. I guess this is good-night." He tentatively held out a hand. Tegan looked at it for a long moment, remembering offering him the same gesture when she left (fled) the TARDIS all those years ago. Then she did something she wished she'd had the courage to do then; she stepped forward, took his hands in hers, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. It had seemed too presumptuous at the time, in spite of (because of?) her feelings for him, but now, it felt…right.

"Good night," she whispered, stepping back. She waited until he left the room before heading for the bath she was longing for, refusing to give in to her desire to ask him to join her. Right now, she needed to wash the Master's filth off her more than anything else. If only she could wash the memories away as well…

**oOo**

The Doctor frowned as he strode down the corridor. Wasn't there something he'd forgotten to do, to say, before saying good-night to Tegan? If there had been, that unexpected kiss had certainly tossed it out of his mind, never mind that it had been nothing but a sisterly peck on the cheek. He touched the spot absently, fancying he could still feel it burning, then snatched his fingers away in irritation. How could she still have such an effect on him, even after all this time? Well, not so much time for him, actually, but enough that he certainly should have been able to control his reactions better. But then, she'd always been able to get to him, either by arguing or by her mere proximity. Not something any Time Lord would be proud to admit, but there you had it.

He almost passed by the small kitchen, lost in his disturbing thoughts, then stopped and back-tracked the few steps to peer inside. Yes, this was the one; he hadn't seen it since Susan was a baby, but then, it hadn't been needed since then. But there it was now, produced like a rabbit out of the TARDIS' technological hat, the one with the bottle scrubber and--he peeked into one of the cabinets--yes, jars of baby food and formula, bottles and nipples and all the paraphernalia necessary for keeping a baby fed. "I'll just pop back and let Tegan know where it is," he told himself. It was the only reason for retracing his steps back to the nursery, of course; if there was another reason, he buried it firmly in his subconscious.

"She won't have had time to do more than run the water," he said aloud, again refusing to allow the enticing images of Tegan preparing for a bath do more than surface and vanish in his mind. "I'll just let her know and be on my way."

But the nursery was empty save the sleeping John. He knocked softly at her half-open bedroom door, alarmed at not hearing the sound of running water he'd expected, wondering if she'd simply fallen asleep instead, but the room was empty. So was the bathroom, when he'd gathered enough courage to peek in there, but the silky green robe he'd left hanging on the hook was gone and her sarong lay in a colorful heap on the floor, so she'd at least started the bath before leaving the room for whatever unknown reason.

Not quite alarmed, but not steady in his mind either, he exited the room after giving John one last look-over. He was sleeping, one thumb resting against his lower lip, breathing steadily. "Keep an eye on him, old girl," the Doctor murmured quietly to the TARDIS, then left the room, trying to figure out where Tegan could have gone.


	19. Woman Wept

**oOo**

The Doctor hurried to the Console Room, figuring that was the best place to start a search; otherwise he'd be randomly hunting through the corridors, and that absolutely would not do. He threw open the door, then came to an abrupt halt.

Tegan was pacing nervously back and forth, wringing her hands. She stopped when she heard the door open, turning a wide-eyed gaze on him. Her cheeks were tear streaked, her eyes red and swollen. "You have to take me to the sickbay," she said, clutching her elbows and moving forward slowly. "I have to know, I thought I could wait till we got back to Terminus, but I have to know _now_."

"Know what?" the Doctor asked cautiously, although he had a sinking feeling he knew. Once the Master found an effective way of controlling or terrorizing someone, he rarely gave it up.

"If I'm pregnant."

Exactly what he'd feared to hear. He reached out wordlessly and she curled into the comfort of his arm, leaning her head against his shoulder. She was barefoot, and he realized suddenly how small she really was; her heels and more importantly her attitude had always made her seem taller. He silently cursed the Master, fluently and in several languages, for having brought her to this state. He cursed himself just as much, for not realizing how much of her good cheer had been a front.

"Come along then, we'll get this straightened out." He spoke soothingly, as to a frightened child, in a voice he hated to have to use on anyone, but especially on Tegan. "Brave heart," he murmured, and she flashed him a brief, watery smile.

The Doctor cleared his throat once as they made their way down the stark white TARDIS corridors, but Tegan merely shook her head. Not ready to talk about, she was signaling, just as he had signaled his willingness to do so should she need to tell. They continued the rest of the way in silence, her footsteps slowing as they approached the familiar sickbay doors. She hesitated on the threshold, then thrust her chin forward and stepped through the doors by herself, head held high, the Doctor following with an approving smile on his lips.

He ran the scanner over her, frowning once at the readings, then adjusting it for human; how had it gotten adjusted for Sontaran, anyway? Another mystery to file away for future review, although he suspected he might not like the answer to that particular question.

Tegan sat quietly, watching as he fiddled with the controls and ran the scanner over her, fiddled with the controls for a bit longer and scanned her again, then turned back to read the results.

"Well?" She couldn't stand waiting a second longer.

He turned to face her with a huge smile on his face, and she felt her tension ease. "Not pregnant."

Tegan dropped her head in her hands and wept in relief. The Doctor stood silently by her side, reaching out once to pat her awkwardly on the shoulder. She turned and flung herself into his arms, clutching the collar of his jacket and sobbing uncontrollably. He put his arms around her and let her have her cry out, grateful that the news he'd given her had been what she wanted to hear most in the world.

When the sobs had slowed to hiccups, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to her. She accepted it gratefully, turning her head away to blow her nose and wipe away the last of the storm of tears. "I just thought of a place I wish I'd taken you," he murmured, helping her to her feet when she indicated a desire to rise from the diagnostic bed.

"Full of weeping women, is it?" she asked, her voice stuffy but a smile on her face.

"Something like that," he concurred. "How about a nice cuppa, hmm? To help settle you down."

"Super, that'd be lovely."

She followed as he led her to the nursery kitchen, pointing out the amenities while the kettle boiled, bustling around finding cups and sugar and milk fit for a grown-up's consumption. "Earl Grey or something a bit more soothing? Chamomile?" He peered over at her. She was sitting in one of the kitchen's 1950's Earth-style chairs, red leather seat, chrome everywhere else. The four chairs matched the table with its red top and chrome sides and legs, and stood out brightly against the white of the rest of the kitchen.

"Something herbal, but not chamomile." She pulled a face. "My gran used to give me that whenever I visited, and my mother always made me drink it, nasty stuff."

"So much for it having a soothing influence." The Doctor's eyes were twinkling, and Tegan's grin made a reappearance before once again disappearing.

He took the chair opposite hers as they each sipped appreciatively at their tea. He'd given her something vaguely apple in scent and taste, and taken the Earl Grey for himself. After a few companionable moments passed, he cleared his throat. Signaling again. This time, she waited for him to speak. "Tegan, I know you probably don't want to talk about it..."

"If I don't tell you Nyssa will be after me to see a counselor on Terminus," she said with a snort. "Hah, even if I _do_ tell you she'll still be after me." She rubbed her eyes. "I must look a right mess."

The Doctor reached across the table and took her free hand in his. "Tell me whatever part you can bear," he said quietly.

"It's not so much what he did this time," Tegan finally said, speaking barely above a whisper. "Oh yes, he raped me again, and said all sorts of rubbish I know wasn't true...except I think," her voice sank even lower, "it _was_ true. Some of it."

"Tell me."

There was nothing but sympathy in his voice, written on every feature of his face, and oh, how she _wanted_ to tell him. But if she did, truly told him everything, would that look change to disgust? She didn't think she could risk it, and shook her head.

"Tegan, you're afraid of something; I don't think I've seen that look in your eyes outside of our encounters with the Mara." Damn him and his perceptiveness anyway; how could he tell she had that same fear of losing herself to someone else's will? "You can tell me. You know I won't judge."

Double damn him for that as well, knowing that there was guilt laced in with the fear. "You don't know what I did...what I let _him_ do."

"Tegan you were completely under his power. Anything you did, anything you allowed him to do, was because of that power he held over you. Remember that."

There was an almost hypnotic quality to his voice, soothing, giving her the courage to say the words. "He didn't just rape me, not after the first time. And it was more than once, not like I told Ace and that future you." The one who'd admitted to having regrets about his relationship with her whilst still in his fifth self's form. The one sitting across from her right now, still holding her hand in his. "After a while, I let him touch me, just like I did here." There, it was said. But the Doctor remained silent. Waiting.

Tegan sighed. He wanted all of it, did he? Then here it was, and if he hated her for it, then so be it. It would be a relief to get it out, no matter what the consequences. "I didn't just let him touch me, I...responded." The tears had started again, unnoticed by her but unmissed by the Doctor. "I even think I could say I enjoyed it, towards the end. Like I'd gotten so used to the bloody situation, like some sort of sick version of Stockholm Syndrome, I missed him when he didn't come by to see me at night."

Reaching forward slowly, tenderly, the Doctor wiped the tears away with his thumb. First one side, then the other. Then he pulled her hands toward his face and gently pressed his lips to her knuckles. "As if he'd given you some sort of hypnotic command, is that it? Or possibly drugs, to make you more amenable to his advances? And then of course, you felt guilty afterwards, didn't you. Just as you do now."

Hope warred with anger on her face. "Drugs? Hypnotism? That's you clutching at straws, Doctor."

He shook his head, keeping a firm grasp on her hands when she tried to jerk them away. "No, that's centuries of experience in dealing with the Master. I know his methods. Mental torture on top of physical abuse on top of isolation...classic methodology if less orthodox execution. But in your case, of course, he had an ulterior motive."

"Fathering a son to become a future host," Tegan said, the hope winning out, at least for the moment. But only a moment; he watched it fade away as she shook her head. "I don't see how you don't hate me, when I hate myself so much," she said through clenched teeth, looking away.

"Intended fatherhood was one ulterior motive," the Doctor corrected her. "The other was exactly what he's accomplished; to make you doubt yourself. To hate yourself. By doing so, you let him have the final laugh."

She fought in earnest to free her hands at those words. "Let me go!" she cried furiously. But she'd returned her attention fully to him, eyes locked with his. The exact result he'd hoped for. "I'll die before I let that bastard have the final laugh on anything!"

Unexpectedly, the Doctor smiled. "That's the Tegan I remember! Never give up, never surrender. I always admired that about you, you know."

She was caught off guard this time, and stopped struggling to free her hands to stare at him in surprise. "You admired me?"

"Of course," he replied simply. "I admire anyone brave enough to take on the TARDIS and traveling about the universe vagabond-style. Your first trip may have been inadvertent, you may have spent a great deal of time telling me in no uncertain terms how much you wanted to go home, but no matter where or when we ended up, you plowed in with your full-speed-ahead, take-no-prisoners, damn-the-torpedoes attitude, and yes, I admired that. I still do." He released her hands, finally, and sat back, gauging the effect of his words.

Tegan had a glazed look about her, but the tears had stopped. She lifted her hands to her cheeks to scrub away the ones he hadn't already taken care of, then lowered her chin into her hands and just stared at him. "I thought I drove you mad."

"Oh, you did that as well," he agreed cheerfully. "There were plenty of times I felt like shoving you out an airlock, figuratively speaking. But you kept me on my toes, and I appreciate that as well."

"Aren't you full of Earth sayings tonight," was all she could find to say to that compliment. She'd never taken them well, compliments, not even as a small child, confident that the world centered around her small, noisy self. And two in a row from the Doctor, well, it was flustering, to say the least. But he'd succeeded in making her feel better; maybe his assertions about the Master were true, after all. "Drugs? Hypnotism?"

"Post-hypnotic suggestion, more likely, and none of that Earth style mesmerism, either. Gallifreyan hypnotism is a whole different creature."

"So he could make someone do something they normally wouldn't?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. So could I, for that matter, but I rarely choose to do so. And then only if it's absolutely necessary. I could turn you into a cold-blooded assassin if I wanted to. Just as the Master could make you think that you wanted his hands on your body."

She shivered. "I never did understand how I could just let him do those things, and not fight him like I did the first time."

"Now you know," the Doctor said firmly. "I can't say the nightmares will completely go away now, but perhaps you might consider taking Nyssa up on her offer of a counselor when you return to Terminus."

She flashed him a weary smile. "That is, if the TARDIS takes us straight there."

"Oh, she will," the Doctor assured her. "Especially with a baby on board. You'd be surprised how well-behaved she becomes when there's a small life to keep safe."

"Thank you." That assurance meant more to her than any amount of therapy, the knowledge that her son was going to not only be with her, but be with her in their chosen home. She opened her mouth to thank him, then realized belatedly what he'd just said to her. "Hey! How did you know about the nightmares?"

"An educated guess?" Tegan glared at him and he shrugged. "Nyssa told me."

"Busybody," Tegan groused, but with no real rancor. Her friend was just trying to help, after all.

"A busybody with your best interests at heart," the Doctor corrected her. "Just like me."

"Thank you." Tears threatened again, but with nothing of self-pity about them. Tegan cleared her throat to keep them at bay. "For everything. For coming to save us when it wasn't your fight. For giving me back my son. For this." She spread her hands wide, taking in the kitchen and the impromptu therapy session and all that went with it. "Thank you."

"You are quite welcome." His tone softened. "Perhaps you'd like that bath now."

With a start, Tegan realized she'd been sitting across from him all this time clad in nothing but a silky green bathrobe. She flushed. "Why didn't you tell me to get dressed?" she asked crossly, to cover for her sudden confusion.

Confusion that the Doctor now shared. He frowned. "You were a bit distressed, Tegan; what difference would it make what you were wearing?"

"Right, of course. I could be stark naked and you wouldn't notice." She was taking defense in anger, but defense against what? Just because some future self had told her this self, the one staring at her in alarm right now, had feelings of some kind for her, regrets about not acting on those feelings, didn't make it true. He might have said them just to comfort her.

No, that was the Master's voice, not her own. "Could I be?" she wondered aloud, her anger draining away as swiftly as it had arrived. "Could I be stark naked and you wouldn't notice?"

She'd driven him speechless with that question, and chuckled at the cornered expression on his face. "Don't worry, Doc, I don't expect you to answer that. Yes, I'd love that bath now. I think I can find my way to the nursery from here." She stood up, clutching the robe tightly as she navigated the narrow space between the table and the stove. Her knees brushed his as she passed, and she felt a tingle up her spine. A familiar tingle, one which she forced herself to ignore as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek for the second time that night.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

_A/N: Getting close to the end now. Hope everyone is still enjoying the ride! R&R if you are! :)_


	20. Stark Naked

_A/N: This chapter contains adult situations. Very adult. Readers beware. And review. :)_

**oOo**

The Doctor habitually retired to his private suite of rooms every night, even if he didn't sleep. Unless, of course, they were in the middle of a crisis or a war or something like that. He'd gotten into the habit during his very first life, and it was one of the traits he carried through each life that followed. Sometimes he just needed to be alone, to unwind; sometimes he read, other times he scanned his computer files for random bits and pieces of his life or in search of some research material for one of his many half-completed treatises. None of which, he ruefully admitted, would be likely to see publication even if he did complete them.

But completed or not, the only place he truly worked on them was in the privacy of his suite, four rooms that consisted of a bedroom, a sitting area, a cluttered office/library space, and a bathroom. Contrary to what some past companions and colleagues had muttered behind his back, Time Lords did indeed have bodily functions that required the occasional use of a loo, and he had been long convinced of the usefulness of a nice hot bath at the end of a grueling day. It was to that particular room he intended to retire at the moment.

His door was open, and the sound of soft music came wafting out as he cautiously poked his head in to see what was going on. There could only be one choice, or actually two; Peri had returned or Tegan hadn't retired to the nursery bedroom. Either way it was uncharacteristic of them to have invaded his private sanctum, and he intended to offer a stern talking-to to whichever one of them it was. He presumed she, whichever "she" it turned out to be, was just trying to be helpful, especially when he came farther into the sitting room and saw the door to the bathroom was open. The sound of running water, while exactly what he'd planned for himself, was disconcerting; he was more than old enough to run his own bath, and both women knew it. Especially Tegan.

He strode across the room, the beginnings of a frown creasing his forehead, then came to an abrupt and confused halt in the bathroom door.

It was Tegan. She was in front of the oversized bathtub, where he'd apparently caught her in the act of leaning over to turn off the Earth-style faucet. That wasn't what stopped him in his tracks, caught his breath in his throat and set every nerve end he possessed tingling.

She was naked, the green robe pooled around her feet where she'd apparently let it drop. He continued to stare as she stirred the water with the fingers of one hand, shaking the drops free and nodding satisfaction at the temperature. He couldn't take his eyes off her, the lines of her gracefully bent figure, the sway of her breasts, the way one foot rested on the tub surround and the other supported her on the plush bath-mat covering the tile floor. Everything in the room was either white or chrome, except the robe on the floor and the woman standing next to it.

He must have made some sort of sound, because she turned, brushing her shoulder-length hair away from her face and smiling. She stood up slowly and faced him. "Stark naked," she said. "I gather you noticed?"

She was teasing him, in every sense of the word, the way her lashes fluttered over her eyes as she looked coyly down at herself, the way she stood, so poised and in control, as far from the weeping mess she'd been earlier as a woman could be and still pass for human. He cleared his throat. Loudly. "Yes, I'm noticing. But I believe I'm noticing a woman who needs to prove something."

The smile disappeared from her face. "I knew you'd think it was something like that," she said, disappointment shining in her eyes. She bent down to gather up the robe. "Enjoy your bath. And for the record," she added as she stalked past him, "the only thing I was trying to prove is something your later self told me. I guess he was just being kind to me after all."

"Tegan, wait." He reached out, not quite catching hold of her arm, but she stopped only inches away from him in the doorway, staring up at him. Waiting, just as he'd waited for her earlier. Damn, things like this were never easy. "Tegan, if he told you that I had...feelings for you, that I had regrets about not acting on those feelings...I assume it was something of that sort?" She nodded, holding his gaze, chin jutting out aggressively. "I rather wish he hadn't said anything," he muttered, not sure how to handle this situation. Delicately, but that was too broad a definition.

"Because it was true or because it wasn't?" she asked. She hadn't donned the robe, held it loosely in one hand so it dragged on the floor and half-covered, at best a part of one thigh and an ankle. Very distracting.

He sighed, capitulating to the need for honesty. "Because it was true. But I'm sure he also told you why I never acted on those feelings."

"You didn't want to hurt me. But you did anyway, just like you are now. Hell's teeth, Doc, don't you think I understand?" Anger, as always her first choice of defense, but there was a world of hurt beneath the anger. "I didn't come here tonight because I just needed someone to hold me and tell me I wasn't dirty because of the things that happened with the Master; I came here tonight because," she abruptly ran out of steam. "I came here tonight," she repeated after a moment, her voice quieter but no less strained, "because I wanted to be with you. Just once. I know there's no happy-ever-after for us. You're virtually immortal, can you make me that way? Would I even want you to? Even if you could and I did, there's still John to think about. So I came here with my eyes wide open. I'm not delusional, and I'm not under emotional duress. I was hoping it was something you wanted as well. To kill a few regrets together."

It was a lengthy speech, and he remained quiet throughout, letting her have her say. There were a thousand ways he could have responded; many of them passed through his mind as she spoke, but ultimately he discarded them all. It came down to two things: either she stayed, or he sent her away. Tomorrow she would be gone, they all would be, back to Terminus, leaving him alone with Peri and the TARDIS and that vagabond life he'd brought up earlier.

Slowly he reached behind him. Pulled the door shut, closing them in. Slowly he reached for her, stroking her cheek, watching as her eyes closed and brief spasm of emotion clenched her face. Then her eyes were open again, and she licked her lips as he leaned forward to kiss her. "You're right," he whispered against her lips when the kiss ended. "This is something we've both wanted, and this is our only chance to have it. I'd be a fool to pass you up twice, Tegan."

The robe dropped, unnoticed, as her hands twined around his neck, pulling him down for another kiss. Their bodies pressed together, he held her as closely as possible, feeling her hands on his jacket, trying to watch her feet as he kicked off his shoes and shimmied out of his trousers. The rest of the clothing was more problematic, if only because they had to separate enough for him to take those items off, vest and shirt and undershirt...why did he wear so much clothing? he wondered distractedly as Tegan's hands wandered into areas that clogged the breath in his throat and set both hearts beating triple-time. As soon as the last piece of clothing dropped to the untidy heap on the floor, their bodies came together as if by magnetism, and he lifted her in his arms, kissing her again as he stepped into the tub she'd drawn for him. For them.

"I promise you, there won't be any morning after regrets," Tegan said as they slipped into the delicious warmth of the water. The Doctor reached above her head and did something to the wall; the lighting dimmed to that of candlelight, with a twinkling effect that had her gasping with pleasure. Then his hand moved elsewhere, and she was gasping with a different kind of pleasure. Thought fled, and she gave herself up to the moment. The moment she'd been aching for.

The bath water was tepid before they drained it, the Doctor yanking the old-fashioned rubber plug-on-a-chain with his big toe while Tegan stepped over him to towel off, the flush of pleasure glowing on every part of her body. She dried herself thoroughly, then dried him just as thoroughly, giggling as she saw that he was ready for more whenever she was. "Double circulatory system," she murmured as she knelt down to wipe his legs. "How convenient." Her mouth was suspiciously close to a very human looking part of the male anatomy as she spoke; he felt her breath and his mouth went quite dry as she ran her hands up his legs. "I should do something about that, don't you think?"

She looked up at him, eyes wide, a small smile playing about her lips. "Innocent eyes don't go with that particular body language," he said, his voice rough with desire. As if she hadn't fulfilled that desire just minutes ago...And here she was again, ready to give more. If one night was all they could have, then by all the powers of the universe, he was going to make sure it was a night neither of them would ever be able to forget. And so, apparently was she. Lips made contact, and tongue, and soon he was unable to clearly articulate the simplest thought.

She cleaned them both up afterwards with the same towel she'd used to dry herself with, giggling as he swooped her into his arms and carried her to his bed. It was immense, and Tegan made a very dirty comment upon seeing it for the first time. To which he responded by dumping her on the bed, dropping down beside her, and tickling her until she begged him to stop, tears of laughter running down her cheeks, red-faced, hair a damp tangled mess. She was beautiful. Her lips were begging to be kissed again, so he obliged them as she tangled her legs around his and dragged him closer. "Round three," she whispered, nipping him in the ear. "Winner takes all."

"We're both the winners this time," he murmured in response, his hands sliding down her back to cup her buttocks. Then language left them both for a time.

They slept afterwards, or she did, a lingering smile shading her lips. While she did so, he slipped into the bathroom and plucked her robe from the floor, removing the monitor and placing on the table next to his bed. Just in case. John seemed old enough to sleep through the night, but as every parent knew, old enough and actually doing it were two different things. And it was a strange bed for John; who knew how he'd react if he did wake up. And if he did, the Doctor knew very well who would rate and who would be left alone watching Tegan flee the room.

He watched her as she slept, one arm tucked beneath the pillow, the other across her mid-section, clutching the satiny blue sheets in her hand. She didn't snore, he'd have to be sure and tell her that. Or maybe he'd tell her she did and see how she reacted; Tegan indignant was almost as enticing as Tegan willing and compliant under his hands...almost. She'd most likely pounce on him, and he found himself looking forward to finding out.

She awoke after a few hours, starting into a sitting position and staring about, trying to navigate the darkness into some semblance of recognition. "It's all right," the Doctor said, putting his hand on her arm and stroking it gently. "You're in my rooms. John's been sleeping just fine; I've been listening for him." He indicated the monitor, which stood out in the dimness of the room with its softly blinking green and blue lights. "Not a peep."

She snuggled back down against him, yawning widely. "Good," she mumbled, dropping her head onto his shoulder. "One of us should be well rested for the morning, and lord knows it won't be me." She tilted her head to offer him a wicked grin. "Round four?"

"Good lord, woman, you're insatiable," he grumbled in mock irritation. She just wrinkled her nose at him. "But," he added with a sigh, "if I must, I must."

"Nothing but work, work, work, all the time," she agreed solemnly. She put her hand under the blankets, starting at the chest and slowly working her way downward. "But I promise to do my share."

He caught her hand before it reached its destination. "Ah, ah," he said, bringing the hand back up and kissing each fingertip. "My turn to do some work." He rolled her over onto her back and nudged her thighs apart with his knee, dragging the blankets and sheets down around his waist as he nuzzled her neck, between her breasts, kissing her navel and thoroughly enjoying the sound of her indrawn breath as she realized exactly where he was going. A strangled moan escaped her as his lips made initial contact, and he was quite satisfied with the sounds she made afterwards. Quite satisfied indeed.


	21. Facing Reality

**oOo**

Tegan groaned herself awake. She was sore down there, and half-wished they'd finished with the warm bath rather than start with it, but it was her own fault and she'd just have to live with the consequences. She smiled, eyes still closed, as she felt the Doctor's lips on her cheek. "Good morning, is it?" she asked.

"Near enough as matters. I thought you might like a shower before John wakes up. And this." He pressed a small tube into her hand; she opened her eyes to squint at it. The Doctor's room brightening up had been what woke her up in the first place, and it was set at just a little too bright for her taste. Especially before a strong cup of something caffeinated. "What's this?"

"Ointment. For, well, you know." Was he blushing, the man who had been so intimately involved in her "you know" all last night? Tegan grinned and thanked him by leaning forward to kiss him on the tip of his nose. "In case you needed it, I thought I'd dig it up for you."

"Did you sleep at all, or just spend the parts of the night not otherwise occupied wandering round picking things up for me?" Tegan waved her hand at the baby monitor. "I take it John's still sleeping?"

"Soundly; I checked in on him personally on my way back from the sickbay," he replied. "And yes, for your information, I did actually sleep a bit. You're quite comfortable to cuddle up next to."

Cuddle. The Doctor had actually used the word "cuddle."

"You'd better stop looking at me that way, or sore or not I'll be all over you instead of doing my motherly duty and getting dressed and cleaned before my son wakes up," Tegan warned, only half-jokingly. She sighed. "I suppose this is it, end of the idyllic moment, time to face reality."

"I'm afraid so." He stroked her arm tenderly, and she fought down the desire to pull him closer. "Is it still no regrets, or has the morning light changed anything?"

"Oh, it's changed everything, you know that. I could pretend last night that it would last forever, but the minute I opened my eyes I knew exactly where we stood," Tegan replied. "But no, regrets are forever banned. I'll miss you terribly, you know that, don't you?" To hell with good intentions; she pulled him into her arms, where he nestled willingly. "But you can't keep popping in and out of my life or I'll expect more of this from you. This has to be good-bye. For real this time."

"I know." His voice was sad, and Tegan felt tears threatening. She wrestled them down sternly; no break-downs until later. Much later. When the reality of "good bye for real" truly hit her. They remained snuggled together for a few more minutes, then Tegan forced herself to ease herself out of his embrace.

"Shower time," she said, throwing off the covers and leaning down to pick up her robe. She pulled it on, taking her time, feeling his appreciative gaze on her and enjoying it as she tied the belt and reached for the monitor. "I'll just keep this for now." She leaned down for one last kiss, trying to make it last, knowing that it couldn't. He kissed her just as fervently, half-pulling her down on top of him, then slowly releasing her arms when the need to breathe outweighed the need to be together.

"We still have the formal good-byes to make," he reminded her as she headed for the door. She nodded without turning around, and then she was gone, the first woman to share his bed in a very long time.

**oOo**

Tegan hummed cheerfully as the warm water washed over her from multiple wall-mounted spouts. It was positively sinful, the TARDIS shower she'd been given, and she was as reluctant to give it up as she was everything else about the last day and night. But give it up she would; she had a son, and it was bad enough to raise him on a space station centuries in the future and millions of miles away from Earth, let alone even entertain the possibility of staying on the TARDIS. But oh, how she longed to do just that, chuck it all again and live that vagabond life. "What an education you'd receive, John," she murmured, then shook her head. "And what violence you'd see, no matter how much the Doctor and I tried to keep it away from you."

She pressed the panel that shut the water off, then stood and waited for the warm air to start blowing. It was sweet, how the Doctor had such old-fashioned things as towels in his private bath, but state-of-the art (somewhere, she was sure) fixtures everywhere else. She fluffed out her hair, vowing to get it cut as soon as they were back on Terminus, then tried the ointment the Doctor had given her. It worked so quickly she wondered if there was an element of pixie-dust in it, then dressed and finished up with teeth and make-up (wonderful, wonderful Nyssa to have packed a make-up kit for her with the clothes) before tip-toeing back into the nursery to look at John.

He was standing in his crib, clutching the top rail and looking around curiously. When he saw her, he broke into a semi-toothless smile and held out his arms to be picked up, babbling something she couldn't understand but that nevertheless filled her heart with joy. "That's my boy, come to mummy," she said as she crossed the room and lifted him out. He kicked his feet and squealed happily as she snuggled him closer, then carried him to the changing table. She didn't recognize any of the clothes that had been provided, but nothing of his would fit him anyway, and everything was adorable. He accepted the change of clothes as contentedly as he'd accepted the pajamas the night before; apparently his good nature hadn't been affected by his time away from her. She could have wept with happiness, but didn't want to frighten him and so kept it bottled up as best she could.

"How does breakfast sound, John?" He gurgled and smacked his lips, for all the world as if he understood her. She tickled his tummy, eliciting a laugh, then picked him up again and carried him to the kitchen.

Once he was fed and cleaned, she headed for the Console Room. "Facing reality time," she muttered to herself. "Brave heart. Damn the torpedoes." She kept to a deliberate pace, talking to John and laughing at his squirmy desire to move under his own steam; she even let him crawl a bit, but he kept heading down side corridors and it was too tempting to let him help her get lost in the TARDIS. So she picked him back up and forced herself to stay on track.

The Doctor was there, exactly where she'd expected him to be, impeccably dressed back in his cricketeer's outfit, minus the coat which was carefully hung up in a corner, along with his hat. His hair was combed and tidy, as was hers; to look at them, no one could tell they'd spent such a wonderful, _acrobatic,_ night together. "Good morning." She shifted John to her other hip, then gave up and plopped him down on the floor. He immediately headed for the column holding up the console, pulling himself up to stand on wobbly legs and stare at the underside of the mushroom-shaped top, babbling happily to himself.

"Good morning." They stared at each other across the console for a long moment, then the Doctor moved around it to take her in his arms. "Realty can wait a bit longer," he murmured before drawing her close enough for a kiss.

Tegan closed her eyes as their lips met, running her hands across his shoulders and up his neck to rest beneath his hair, pulling him closer with a desperation she had never felt before. The need to feel him against her, to know that he wanted it that way, was overpowering.

"Oh, my." They pulled apart at the sound of that apologetic voice, turning as one to see who it was, their arms still around each other; even the embarrassment of being "caught" couldn't force Tegan to break that hold. Nyssa and Tyrel stood in the doorway, looking flustered. "I'm sorry, we're interrupting," Nyssa continued in a small voice. "We'll just..." she gestured vaguely toward the interior door, then bolted for it, dragging a grinning Tyrel along with her, her face as red as a brick.

Tegan collapsed into giggles in the Doctor's arms, allowing him to half-support her as she leaned her head against his chest. He joined in the laughter, chuckling ruefully at himself and the absurdity of the situation. "Well, if Nyssa had any suspicions about us before, we've just confirmed them," he said after the laughter finally died down. John had moved from under the console to pull himself up by the Doctor's trouser leg, and he peered down at the youngster. "Wanting to join the fun, are you?" He released Tegan to reach down and lift John up into his arms. "I'm the Doctor, and I'm very pleased to meet you."

Those damn tears again, threatening to overflow just when she'd vowed not to let them. Tegan watched her son and the man she loved, wishing with all her heart and soul that there was a way for the three of them to be together. Wishing, and knowing it wasn't to be. But she would treasure this moment almost more than the night they'd spent together; watching the Doctor tickle John's neck and make silly faces until the baby laughed so hard she suspected she'd have to change his diaper again soon. He seemed so comfortable, and she realized she'd never really seen the Doctor around children. Especially babies. "What a good father you'd make," she said wistfully, then bit her lip in chagrin at having expressed the thought aloud.

"I've been a father once before," he reminded her. "I know I missed out on raising Kyris, but my first self didn't do half bad with Susan."

"No, she seems to have turned out all right," Tegan agreed. Then, determinedly changing the subject: "So, what's next? Right to the village and the ceremony, or do we wait for Peri to drag herself back?"

"Peri's already been dragged back." This time the unexpected voice came from the TARDIS' interior door, which Nyssa had left open in her rush to leave the Console Room. Stretching and yawning, the Doctor's young companion strolled into the room. "Morning. What a party! Some of that stuff they brew is pretty potent, but my head doesn't hurt at all this morning." She took John's hand in hers, laughingly pulling her head away when he reached for her hair. "I saw Nyssa and Tyrel a minute ago, but they didn't seem in the mood to talk." She smirked. "I guess they had a good time last night too. What did you two get up to besides babysitting? Anything interesting?" she asked as if she didn't expect to hear an affirmative.

"No, nothing worth sharing," the Doctor said with a straight face. Tegan hoped the dark circles under her eyes had been successfully covered up, but knew she could always blame John for any signs of sleeplessness on her part. "Get dressed and fed; as soon as we're ready we'll head for the village for our formal leave-taking." He glanced at Tegan. "Then it's back to Terminus."

She managed to summon up a smile. "Super. I guess I'll get our things packed up; you know where to find us." She took John from the Doctor's arms and headed back to the nursery. Reality had been faced, and all she could say was that it really, really sucked.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

_A/N: Yes, I know. "Sucked" is way too American a phrase. But I decided to let it stand as it pretty much summed up her feelings at this point. If anyone knows a more appropriate Britishism, I will gladly change it out (sneaky way of asking for reviews, eh?)._


	22. Taking Leave

**oOo**

The ceremony was lengthy, of course, and included a great many contrite speeches aimed at the aliens and congratulatory speeches aimed at the native population. At one point, the woman who had cared for John, Lalila, offered Tegan the few simple toys that had been his favorites, to keep or to burn, as she said in formal tones, whichever would bring her more pleasure. The Sacred One was presented, a squirming bundle only a few months older than John, with a request that the Doctor and Tegan give their blessings to him before they left.

Giving the Doctor an arch look, Tegan stepped forward and placed her hand on the Sacred One's forehead, as instructed, repeating the words the High Priest told her. Then she stepped back and the Doctor reluctantly did the same.

The Doctor believed that to be the end of their part in the ceremony. He was wrong. He bowed to the High Priest and turned to leave the podium, offering Tegan a hand down as she had insisted in a return to her highest heels. However, the High Priest intervened, requesting that Tegan remain for a moment. She exchanged puzzled glances with the Doctor, then shrugged and nodded, remaining on the topmost step of the platform that had been erected for the ceremony. The Doctor continued down the steps, joining Peri, Tyrel, and Nyssa, who was holding John, off to one side near the platform. The High Priest bowed formally to Tegan, who offered an uncertain bow of her own in return, then watched in confusion as he, too, stepped off the platform, joining the front ranks of the gathered crowd of his people.

"Tegan Jovanka," he said in ringing tones. "We have done you an injustice in allowing the one called the Master to keep you as his captive, to keep you apart from your son. Our only excuse is that he held our Sacred One hostage. For that, we owe you the greatest of apologies." As one, the entire group of people sank to their knees and genuflected, heads bowed to the ground. They retained that pose for a full minute while an embarrassed Tegan stood on the top step and turned radish colored, not sure where to look, finally settling her eyes on her son. The minute passed in complete silence, even from the two babies. The Sacred One was being held against Alanna's chest, in the same position as the other infants in the crowd; Tegan marveled that not one of the squawked at the suffocating hold their mothers had on them.

When the minute passed, they rose to their feet once again, staring up at her. Obviously waiting for something. Tegan stared back at them, then cleared her throat and spoke. "Um, thank you. I accept your apology." Then she hurried down the stairs, not caring if there was more to the ceremony, just wanting to no longer be the center of attention. The Doctor thanked the High Priest, shook his hand, and tendered their apologies for not remaining longer. "You understand," he murmured, giving the still-red Tegan a significant glance.

The High Priest nodded. "If you should ever desire to return, you and your friends will always be made welcome." He offered a wry smile. "However, I shall certainly understand if that never happens."

"Come on, Doctor," Tegan hissed in his ear when he returned to their small group. Peri was waving and smiling at a group of young people, the girls giggling and the boys eyeing her appreciatively. "I'm ready to go." Any desire to linger had been banished by the formal apology offered to her by an entire population; all she wanted to do was leave.

"Good bye!" The Doctor called, raising a hand in farewell. A chorus of well-wishing followed as they headed back to the TARDIS, Tegan carrying John in one arm and dangling her shoes in the other hand for the trudge back to the beach.

"Thank God that's over," Tegan sighed as they filed into the TARDIS. The Doctor immediately headed for the console, punching in the coordinates for Terminus. "No side trips," she warned him, only half-joking. He nodded without looking at her, and her good humor dimmed. They were leaving, they were returning to Terminus. Reality. She turned her attention to John to keep her mind off the fact that this time would be the forever she'd expected the last time she left the TARDIS and the Doctor behind.

"I'll help you get your things ready, if you like," Nyssa offered, sensing that her friend needed something to busy herself with in the short time it would take them to reach home. Tegan nodded, picking John back up from the floor and hurrying through the interior doorway without another word. Or a backward glance. That would have killed her.

Peri looked after them in concern. "Is Tegan going to be all right?" she asked Tyrel in a low voice. Trying not to disturb the Doctor, who looked very busy at the Console, even though Peri was fairly sure that once the rotor started going he didn't really need to do anything else to the controls.

Tyrel nodded. "She will be, with time. We have an excellent group of counselors on Terminus if she needs someone to unburden herself to that's a bit more removed from the situation than we are. But I'm sure she appreciates your concern."

"Of course she does," the Doctor chimed in, still busy at the Console but obviously having heard every word of their conversation. "She's a survivor, and believe me, she's survived far worse than this. Remind me to tell you about the Mara some time."

"I'd better change back into my uniform," Tyrel said abruptly. "Please excuse me." He left the room, and Peri was alone with the Doctor. The way she was used to it being.

"So are we staying for a visit on Terminus? I've never seen a medical space station before, and my tour kind of got interrupted last time," she said.

The Doctor shook his head. "I think it best if we leave straight away after we drop our friends off."

"But we didn't get a proper visit," Peri protested. "Just jump in the middle of the chaos as usual. These are your friends, you just said so; don't you want to just hang around with them without a crisis hanging over your head?"

"I'd like nothing better," the Doctor replied after a moment. He looked directly at Peri, and she blinked at the sorrow she saw in his expression before he shuttered it away and offered nothing but a blank slate. "However, I don't believe it will be possible this time." He refused to say anything more on the subject, and left Peri wondering what she'd missed.

**oOo**

"Well, here we are. Terminus. In the proper time period as well," the Doctor added with no small amount of satisfaction in his voice. He glanced at Tegan. "As I told you, the TARDIS is remarkably well-behaved when a baby is involved."

She managed a smile. "Then I guess this is it then. Good-bye."

He gestured toward the luggage that was heaped near the TARDIS entrance. "Would you like a hand with that?"

She shook her head. "No, I think we can manage. We'll just put it outside and take it from there."

He nodded, a flash of disappointment in his eyes, quickly covered up by a wide smile. "All right then, we'll help get it that far at least." He picked up a duffel bag and lugged it out without waiting for a yes or no. Tyrel and Nyssa followed, each taking a pair of smaller suitcases in their hands and walking out to make their good-byes. Peri followed, still secretly hoping for a longer visit, but something about the set of the Doctor's shoulders told her otherwise.

Tegan was alone in the Console Room. She looked around. "Last time, this time I mean it. No more coming back. No more breaking my heart over what I can't keep." She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Come on, John. Time to go home." She held him closely as they stepped toward the door, then came to a stop as the Doctor walked back in.

They gazed at each other for an impossibly long moment before he stepped forward and closed the door. Tegan watched him, waiting. He took her tenderly in his arms. "One last kiss," he whispered, and she unceremoniously plopped John onto the floor, where he wanted to be anyway, and melted into the Doctor's embrace.

"One last kiss," she agreed, then pressed her lips to his, summing up all the passion and sorrow and love she felt, pressing her body against his, feeling the double-beat of his heart against her chest. It was a desperate kiss, frantic with the need to convey so much in so short a space of time, destined to remain a lingering memory long after it ended. Which it did, much too soon, as the sound of frantic knocking and calling came from outside the door.

"Back to reality for the final time," Tegan said regretfully as they pulled apart. She scooped John up in her arms as the Doctor opened the door.

"Sorry," she heard him say through the haze of her own jumbled thoughts. "John was playing with the handle. Children, what can I say." Tegan brushed passed him with a mumbled good-bye, rushing through the doors with tears blinding her eyes. She said an equally unintelligible good-bye to Peri, then headed determinedly for the quarters she and John shared with Nyssa and Tyrel. "I'll fetch the baggage later," she threw over her shoulder.

"Now I know I missed something," Peri announced in aggrieved terms, turning to face the remaining two Terminus residents. "Anyone want to tell me what it is?"

Nyssa shook her head. "I'm sorry, no. It's Tegan's business and no one else's. Not even ours." She held out her hand. "Good-bye, Peri, it was lovely to meet you, even under these circumstances." Peri took the proffered hand, then pulled Nyssa close for a hug, repeating the process with Tyrel.

"Good-bye," she echoed, then headed back into the TARDIS. Maybe she could wheedle something of the truth out of the Doctor, although she doubted it. However, it would be entertaining to try, to see how far his patience would last through the pestering. Something to do to keep her mind busy, at any rate.

Nyssa and Tyrel waited until the TARDIS vanished before calling to let Borean know they had returned, and to request a hover-cart to pick up Tegan's belongings. Then they headed back to their regular lives, hand-in-hand, each quietly musing over everything that had happened.

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_A/N: Well, only one or two chapters left, at most. Hope everyone's enjoyed the ride so far! You know the drill: reviews are the stuff of life here, so don't be stingy!_


	23. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Tegan stares around the room she hasn't seen in so many months. It is at once familiar and alien. Everything is as she left it, or so she assumes; clothes hanging neatly in the wardrobe, bed made, John's belongings in their little corner, the crib looking suddenly too small compared the armful he has become since he was last here. She lets him down to crawl around and explore what to him must be considered a new space, then sits heavily on the bed and drops her head in her hands.

She does not weep, although she is aching to; she will not cry while John is in the room, awake and aware. He crawls over to her, perhaps sensing the sorrow that has overcome her, or perhaps just wanting to be lifted on to the soft surface of the bed so he can explore that as well. Either way, he is a welcome distraction, and she musters up a smile that gains in sincerity as she watches him explore the new surface, chewing on the pillows and rumpling the coverlet.

She is home, and she feels empty.

As the weeks go by, she promises Nyssa she will see a counselor if necessary, but the nightmares have blessedly stopped frequenting her sleeping mind. She is still disturbed physically, with an uneven appetite and fatigue settling on her at odd moments, but she is otherwise fine and defends her ability to process things on her own with a ferocity that surprises no one except Tyrel, who has not truly witnessed her like this before, although Nyssa certainly has.

She has confessed everything to Nyssa that first day back, when her friend stops by to see how she is adjusting, if she needs anything. John is sleeping, Tyrel is in surgery, and Nyssa has deliberately left Borean in charge for a few more days. She tells Nyssa about the Master, about her time on his TARDIS and her captivity on the island, leaving nothing out, stating it as baldly as possible even though her friend's face is transformed by grief and horror. She has not heard all the details before this, and Tegan wishes she could spare her, but knows she needs to tell one other person.

One that will remain with her, that will be there to help, than _can_ be there to help. Nyssa is seated on the edge of the bed, as is Tegan; they are holding hands, while tears slip down both sets of cheeks. When Tegan admits that she and the Doctor shared a night of intimacy, Nyssa's cheeks burn with remembered embarrassment at walking in on the two of them kissing. She suspected what had happened, and seems pleased that Tegan wants to share the good along with the bad.

She is suitably shocked at what the Master did in trying to destroy Tegan's self-confidence, and is thrilled at how the Doctor undermined that effort even before the physical part of their relationship. Tegan promises that she can share anything with Tyrel she feels necessary, and Nyssa assures her she will only do so if absolutely necessary. Then she gently presses her friend to speak to the counselor once more, only to be given the same brush-off she has received in the past. It is obvious that Tegan feels that speaking to her friends is just as beneficial as any disinterested third-party could ever be, however professionally trained and knowledgeable.

It is only when the physical symptoms increase rather than vanishing that Tegan consents to a physical exam; the only thing the Doctor actually checked her for was pregnancy, and she allows that she might have needed a more extensive review. Perhaps she has picked up an exotic virus on Primus Seven.

The results of the exam send her mind reeling, and she bolts from the room without allowing the doctor to finish, ignoring his agitated protests as she races through the door and down the hall, automatically taking the turns that will bring her back to the quarters she still shares with Nyssa and Tyrel, stopping only to pick John up from the day-care center, mumbling excuses to the bewildered caregivers; Tegan was not expected for several more hours, John is sleeping, but she insists on taking him. He remains asleep as she hurries into her room and closes the door, placing him tenderly in his crib and staring down at him, breathing hard.

_This can't be happening._

But it is. She collapses onto the bed, throwing herself down and weeping into the pillows, muffling her sobs as best she can while John continues to sleep, blissfully unaware of his mother's current suffering. She intends to get herself under control before he wakes; his empathy seems to sleep when he does, but if she is this upset when his nap is over, he will be miserable and afraid.

Just like his mother.

**oOo**

Nyssa rushed down the corridor. She'd been in her office, going over financial figures from the previous quarter, when Borean put through a call from Dr. Ganong. "It's about Miss Jovanka," he'd started out, sounding agitated. Nyssa, too, became agitated well before the end of the call. Calling out to Borean to keep things under control, she left her office in the middle of the day and hurried to her quarters.

Tegan was there, lying on the bed. Nyssa glanced in on John, saw that he was still sleeping, and quietly urged Tegan to join her in the main living area and a calming cup of tea. Tegan looked up, her face swollen and eyes red from crying, then nodded and allowed Nyssa to lead her from the room. She sat quietly on the couch while Nyssa hurriedly prepared the tea, finding the most soothing mix she had in the cabinet and heating it to the temperature her friend preferred. Then she joined Tegan on the couch, waiting until she'd had the first sip, watching as her friends fingers trembled and shook, nearly spilling the tea before managing to get it into her mouth.

"Tegan, Dr. Ganong called me, he said you'd rushed out of the exam without allowing him to finish it. He wouldn't tell me what he'd told you, but he knew how close we are and urged me to speak to you right away. Please, tell me what happened!"

Tegan gazed into her tea cup, then placed it abruptly onto the low table in front of the couch. "The Doctor did an exam, I told you that." Nyssa nodded encouragingly, already rehearsing words of comfort for whatever ailment Dr. Ganong had found, promises of cures and anything-that-we-can waiting on her tongue for Tegan to give her the necessary information to allow her friend to begin her research. Borean would have to be placed in charge of all administrative duties, of course, and Tyrel would have to be called in to consult, along with any specialists they might need. She was busy planning it out in her mind, and so nearly missed the two simple words Tegan offered in explanation.

"I'm pregnant."

Nyssa gaped at her, braced for any eventuality but this one. "But the Doctor said you weren't!"

Tegan nodded. "I wasn't. But I am now. The Master didn't do this to me, Nyssa."

"But if he didn't, then the only other person who could be the father..." Her voice trailed off in disbelief, but Tegan nodded confirmation.

"The only other possibility is the Doctor," she confirmed, her voice unsteady. She reached for the tea and gulped down a substantial amount. "I don't imagine he meant this to happen, any more than I did, but now he's gone off and left another woman pregnant with his child. And Kyris doesn't know he's about to become a brother, either. Because I _will_ have this baby," she added fiercely. "I don't care how much work it takes, I won't give up even this much of the Doctor, especially when I can't have him any other way." She'd made her mind up about that immediately; all the tears she'd lately shed had been for her inability to get in touch with this new life's father.

Nyssa, usually so unflappable, collapsed back against the couch and groaned, covering her eyes with her arm. "Tegan, are you sure? Have you thought this through?"

"Whatever it takes," her friend replied firmly. "And you better get the tech laddies working on a way to contact a TARDIS, any TARDIS, so we can get word to him. I'm not doing this all on my own, no offense to you and Tyrel, but I want this baby's father in his life. Or her life. Whatever."

"Right, of course." Tegan was having another baby. John was going to have a brother. Or a sister. Whatever. And she, Nyssa, was about to become head researcher on an extremely rare case of a hybrid pregnancy.

"Well, you certainly know how to keep our lives interesting, don't you, Doctor," she murmured to herself, eliciting a brief snort of laughter from her companion. She pulled her arm down and opened her eyes. "Right. First things first. You go back and finish that exam, apologize to Dr. Ganong, and I'll keep an eye on John. When Tyrel comes home, we'll start planning your prenatal care regime; Dr. Alysz is good, but I suspect we'll need to contact some specialists for this."

Tegan nodded. "Good." She wiped away the last of the tears and finished her tea. "I'll apologize, tell him I just panicked. Which I did. But I'm much calmer now." She stood up and strode purposefully for the door, closing it gently behind her.

"You're much calmer; I'm glad one of us is," Nyssa muttered, groaning again. "Sometimes I believe the universe has a consciousness; the only problem is, most of the time it's laughing at us."

Then she too came to her feet and headed for her private research area, making sure to leave the door open for when John woke up.

"Doctor, you'd better be reachable," she muttered to herself. "Otherwise I won't be responsible for Tegan's actions."

She set to work, knowing that her life was about to be turned upside down yet again.

And secretly, she was thrilled.

**The end?**

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_A/N: Well, there it is in all its glory, with an obviously open ending. Shameful, I know, but I'm enjoying this alternate whoniverse I've created too much to want to stop playing in it. Let me know what you think; twist or cliche? I love getting Tegan pregnant...wait, that didn't sound right. In my stories, I love thinking up different ways for Tegan to be pregnant. That's better. R&R and we'll see how long it takes me to write the next sequel._


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